Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California: Realigner metro. In 2024, voted D+54%. Democratic peak: D+60 in 2020.
Key facts
- 2024 presidential margin
- D+54MIT Election Lab
- Political archetype
- RealignerAkashic typology
- Population
- 264,9262024 5-year
- Median household income
- $111,0932024 5-year
- White (non-Hispanic)
- 60.0%2024 5-year
- Black
- 0.8%2024 5-year
- Hispanic / Latino
- 35.2%2024 5-year
- Peak Democratic margin
- D+60 in 2020MIT Election Lab
- Peak Republican margin
- R+52 in 1924MIT Election Lab
Constituent county margins for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, CAOne cell per constituent county, colored by 2024 presidential margin from deep red (Republican) through neutral to deep blue (Democratic), ordered bluest first.
R+60D+60
One cell per constituent county. Ordered by 2024 D-vs-R margin (bluest first). Hover for county-level numbers.
38 presidential elections
| Year | Won | Margin | Democratic | Republican | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | 100,998 | 27,978 | 134,981 | ||
| D | 114,246 | 26,937 | 145,649 | ||
| D | 95,249 | 22,438 | 130,012 | ||
| D | 90,805 | 24,047 | 120,385 | ||
| D | 98,745 | 25,244 | 127,736 | ||
| D | 89,102 | 30,354 | 122,084 | ||
| D | 66,618 | 29,627 | 108,350 | ||
| D | 58,250 | 27,766 | 103,062 | ||
| D | 66,183 | 24,916 | 113,992 | ||
| D | 63,133 | 37,728 | 102,611 | ||
| D | 49,091 | 41,652 | 92,147 | ||
| R | 32,346 | 37,347 | 85,804 | ||
| D | 37,772 | 31,872 | 73,969 | ||
| R | 32,336 | 34,799 | 69,759 | ||
| R | 20,492 | 25,365 | 49,944 | ||
| D | 26,714 | 18,836 | 45,644 | ||
| R | 16,659 | 24,858 | 41,704 | ||
| R | 12,574 | 22,109 | 34,776 | ||
| R | 11,080 | 22,910 | 34,361 | ||
| R | 9,862 | 15,395 | 26,690 | ||
| R | 9,357 | 11,102 | 20,637 | ||
| R | 10,683 | 11,453 | 22,486 | ||
| D | 9,326 | 8,260 | 17,908 | ||
| D | 8,246 | 6,005 | 14,990 | ||
| R | 3,688 | 8,275 | 12,075 | ||
| R | 801 | 5,402 | 8,879 | ||
| R | 1,957 | 5,285 | 7,974 | ||
| D | 4,511 | 4,228 | 9,446 | ||
| O | 2,875 | 0 | 7,152 | ||
| R | 1,643 | 2,886 | 5,275 | ||
| R | 1,105 | 2,626 | 4,329 | ||
| R | 1,635 | 2,173 | 4,085 | ||
| R | 1,960 | 1,969 | 4,082 | ||
| R | 1,512 | 1,843 | 4,112 | ||
| R | 1,750 | 1,996 | 3,940 | ||
| R | 1,365 | 1,667 | 3,105 | ||
| R | 1,102 | 1,236 | 2,451 | ||
| R | 1,132 | 1,537 | 2,669 |
Demographics
Race, ethnicity, and ancestry
Click any group to see the ancestries typically reported within it.
English
11.8%
German
11.3%
Irish
10.5%
Italian
6.1%
Scottish
2.3%
French
2.2%
American
1.9%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity that overlaps the race categories, so these shares can total more than 100%. Ancestry is a self-reported, multiple-response item; ancestry percentages do not sum to the parent race percentage.
Age distribution by sex
Median age: 39.8 in this county, 39.1 nationally
Male
Age
Female
85+
75–84
65–74
55–64
45–54
35–44
25–34
18–24
5–17
<5
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Median household income
2024 inflation-adjusted dollars
$111,093
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA ranks near the middle of US counties.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA$111,093
California$99,122
United States$80,734
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Poverty rate
All persons below federal poverty line
11.6%
Child poverty is below the national average.
Children under 1811.9%
Working age (18–64)11.7%
Seniors (65+)9.8%
Source · American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2024 release.
Language at home
Population aged 5 and older
66.4%
speak English only
Spanish26.4%
Other Indo-European3.5%
Asian & Pacific Islander2.9%
Other languages0.8%
Source · ACS 5-year estimates, 2024.
Religious adherents
Adherents per capita by tradition
Source · 2020 US Religion Census. Remaining 60.5% of residents not counted as adherents by any reporting body.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA sits in the Pacific Coast. Its political identity was forged in the union halls of the mid-twentieth century, when industrial labor and the Democratic party became, for working people, two faces of the same political fact. That identity held for 1 consecutive presidential elections.
The unraveling was not abrupt. The Democratic margin in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA peaked at sixty points in 2020; it narrowed steadily over the late twentieth century. The 1984 election delivered the metro to the Republican party for the first time in many years, by a margin of eight points. By 2024, the margin had widened further.
The economic and demographic context is severe. The median household income of $111,093 is among the lowest at this geographic scale; 12% of residents live below the federal poverty line.
Cite this page
All citations released under CC BY 4.0. Attribution: Akashic Intelligence.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California — The Long Memory. Akashic Intelligence — The Long Memory. https://tiers.akashic.app/cbsa/42100/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
License: CC BY 4.0
Frequently asked questions
How did Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California vote in 2024?
In 2024, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California voted Democratic by 54.1 points (D+54), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 134,981 votes cast, 100,998 went Democratic and 27,978 went Republican.
What is Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California's political archetype?
Akashic classifies Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California as a "Realigner" metro based on its long-arc presidential voting pattern. Across 38 elections in the dataset, the metro has voted Democratic 16 times, Republican 21 times, and other 1 times.
When did Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California voted Republican was 1980.
How many people live in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California?
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California has a population of 264,926 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California?
Median household income in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California is $111,093 — above the national median of $80,734. The California state median is $99,122.
What is the political history of Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California?
Akashic tracks 38 presidential elections in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA, California from 1876 to 2024. Of those, 16 went Democratic and 21 went Republican. The metro's archetype — "Realigner" — captures the overall trajectory of that voting record.