county

Monterey County, CA

Demographic and economic profile of Monterey County, CA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Monterey County has a population of 436,251 and a foreign-born share of 29.6%, reflecting a labor market heavily oriented toward agriculture and related industries. The workforce carries a relatively low educational attainment rate—27.9% hold a bachelor's degree or higher and 73.3% have a high school diploma—with median worker earnings of $39,335 against a median home value of $723,100 and median gross rent of $1,995/month, indicating significant housing cost pressure. Population growth was nearly flat at +0.6% over five years, unemployment stands at 5.1%, and a labor force participation rate of 60.5% points to a constrained working-age supply relative to overall population.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

436,251

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Household Income

$97,230

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

35.5 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.6% since 2018

Monterey County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • Some Other Race Alone169,297 (38.7%)
  • White Alone158,316 (36.2%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race52,935 (12.1%)
  • Asian Alone25,129 (5.7%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races16,864 (3.9%)
  • Black or African American Alone9,414 (2.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.Spanish200,327
  2. 2.Tagalog (incl. Filipino)5,829
  3. 3.Other Indo-European4,254
  4. 4.Other Asian and Pacific Island3,274
  5. 5.Chinese (incl. Mandarin, Cantonese)2,705

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

26.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

14.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

29.6%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

13,371

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$66,744

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

—

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$39,523

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

5.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

12.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance40,200
  2. 2.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining26,707
  3. 3.Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation, & Accommodation & Food Services20,074
  4. 4.Professional, Scientific, & Management, & Administrative & Waste Management Services19,884
  5. 5.Retail Trade (Group)17,906

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations61,586
  2. 2.Service Occupations35,420
  3. 3.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations34,118
  4. 4.Sales & Office Occupations33,447
  5. 5.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations22,194

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 9.06×)26,886
  2. 2.Arts, Entertainment, Recreation, & Accommodation (LQ 1.26×)20,533
  3. 3.Public Administration (LQ 1.16×)10,225
  4. 4.Construction (LQ 1.09×)14,062
  5. 5.Wholesale Trade (LQ 1.01×)4,340

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$723,100

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$1,995/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

52.1%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $500,000 to $749,99919,394 (28.1%)
  • $750,000 to $999,99917,121 (24.8%)
  • $1,000,000 to $1,499,9999,810 (14.2%)
  • $2,000,000 or More5,811 (8.4%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9994,801 (7.0%)
  • $1,500,000 to $1,999,9993,875 (5.6%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

27.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

73.3%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

60.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$39,335

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

25.4 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

4.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone132,218 (70.3%)
  • Carpooled18,579 (9.9%)
  • Worked At Home18,528 (9.8%)
  • Other9,627 (5.1%)
  • Walked5,396 (2.9%)
  • Public Transit2,145 (1.1%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.