Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area
The Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area is one county in California: Santa Cruz County. About 258,852 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 4.9% fewer than in April 2020.
- Population, July 2025
- 258,852 4.9% fewer than in April 2020
- Type
- Metropolitan statistical area
- County
- Santa Cruz County
- Land area
- 445 sq mi (1,153 km²)
- Time zone
- Pacific TimeUTC-08:00 in January; UTC-07:00 in July
- State
- California
- Combined statistical area
- San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA
- CBSA code
- 42100
The county in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area
| County | Role | Population, July 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County | Central | 258,852 |
A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. This area has no outlying counties: no neighboring county sends enough commuters to join it. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.
Principal cities, largest first
- Santa Cruz61,607 people
- Watsonville51,712 people
OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.
Part of the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA combined statistical area
OMB joins neighboring metro and micro areas into a combined statistical area when enough people commute between them. The other 7 areas in this one, largest first:
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area4,630,041 people
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area1,984,473 people
- Stockton-Lodi, CA Metro Area823,815 people
- Modesto, CA Metro Area557,719 people
- Vallejo, CA Metro Area455,376 people
- Merced, CA Metro Area297,260 people
- Napa, CA Metro Area132,949 people
Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first
Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metro Area25 mi northeast
- Salinas, CA Metro Area30 mi southeast
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA Metro Area76 mi northwest
Before using this answer on a form
A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.
Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.