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Living in Santa Cruz County
For more than a century, Santa Cruz County's favored climate, beautiful scenery, and abundant leisure-time diversions have drawn new residents and vacationers alike. The county's seaside meadows and mountain forests hug the often-rugged coast at the northern curve on the Monterey Bay, about 60 miles south of San Francisco. Inland, the region borders on the crest of the Santa Cruz Mountains, which form a portion of the California Coast Ranges.
Stretching over 439 square miles with a population of approximately 240,000, Santa Cruz is California's second smallest county after San Francisco and one of the state's oldest. Northwest of Santa Cruz, the county seat, fields are planted with brussels sprouts and artichokes or left for the native grasses, fleshy succulents, and wildflowers. South of the city, growing residential and resort communities, protected by Monterey Bay, alternate with state beaches offering access to sandy shores. Where the Pajaro River divides Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, the fertile alluvial soils produce an abundance of strawberries, lettuce, and apples. Inland areas are the steep, redwoodcovered slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains, cut into occasional valleys by sparkling streams.
The county's economy is dominated by agriculture in the Pajaro Valley around Watsonville and by tourism in the city of Santa Cruz and the adjacent mid-county area.
- Santa Cruz County Real Estate Homes for Sale
- Explore Santa Cruz News & Events
SEARCH PROPERTIES IN SANTA CRUZ & MONTEREY