| Monterey County, California | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — County — | |||
| Big Sur Coastline, an iconic image of Monterey County | |||
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| Location in the state of California | |||
| Country | United States | ||
| State | California | ||
| Region | California Central Coast | ||
| Incorporated | 1850 | ||
| Named for | Monterey Bay | ||
| County seat | Salinas | ||
| Largest City | Salinas | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 3,771.07 sq mi (9,767 km2) | ||
| • Land | 3,321.95 sq mi (8,603.8 km2) | ||
| • Water | 449.12 sq mi (1,163.2 km2) | ||
| Population (2010) | |||
| • Total | 415,057 | ||
| • Density | 110.1/sq mi (42.5/km2) | ||
| Time zone | Pacific Standard Time (UTC-8) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7) | ||
| Website | www.co.monterey.ca.us | ||
Monterey County is a county located on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California, its northwestern section forming the southern half of Monterey Bay. The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County. As of 2010, the population was 415,057.[1] The county seat and largest city is Salinas. Monterey County is a member of the regional governmental agency, Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.
The coastline, including Big Sur, State Route 1, and the 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula has made the county world famous. The city of Monterey was the capital of California under Spanish and Mexican rule. The economy is primarily based upon tourism in the coastal regions, and agriculture in the Salinas River valley. Most of the county's people live near the northern coast and Salinas valley, while the southern coast and inland mountain regions are almost devoid of human habitation.
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Monterey County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Parts of the county were given to San Benito County in 1874.
The county derived its name from Monterey Bay. The bay was named by Sebastián Vizcaíno in 1602 in honor of the Conde de Monterrey (or 'Count of Monterrey'), then the Viceroy of New Spain.[2] Monterrey is a variation of Monterrei, a municipality in the Galicia region of Spain from which the Conde de Monterrey and his father (the Fourth Count of Monterrei) were from.
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 3,771.07 square miles (9,767.0 km2), of which 3,321.95 square miles (8,603.8 km2) (or 88.09%) is land and 449.12 square miles (1,163.2 km2) (or 11.91%) is water.[3] The county is roughly 1.5 times larger than the state of Delaware, and roughly similar in population and size to Santa Barbara County.
Monterey County is served by Amtrak trains and Greyhound Lines buses. Monterey-Salinas Transit provides transit service throughout most of Monterey County, with buses to Big Sur and King City as well as in Monterey, Salinas and Carmel. MST also runs service to San Jose, California in Santa Clara County
Salinas Municipal Airport is located in the city of Salinas
The 2010 United States Census reported that Monterey County had a population of 415,057. The racial makeup of Monterey County was 230,717 (55.6%) White, 12,785 (3.1%) African American, 5,464 (1.3%) Native American, 25,258 (6.1%) Asian (2.8% Filipino, 0.7% Korean, 0.6% Chinese, 0.6% Japanese, 0.4% Vietnamese, 0.4% Indian), 2,071 (0.5%) Pacific Islander, 117,405 (28.3%) from other races, and 21,357 (5.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 230,003 persons (55.4%); 50.2% of Monterey County is Mexican, 0.8% Salvadoran, and 0.5% Puerto Rican.[4]
| Population reported at 2010 United States Census | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Population |
|
American |
American |
|
Islander |
races |
more races |
or Latino (of any race) |
| Monterey County | 415,057 | 230,717 | 12,785 | 5,464 | 25,258 | 2,071 | 117,405 | 21,357 | 230,003 |
|
city |
Population |
|
American |
American |
|
Islander |
races |
more races |
or Latino (of any race) |
| Carmel-by-the-Sea | 3,722 | 3,464 | 11 | 8 | 111 | 6 | 45 | 77 | 174 |
| Del Rey Oaks | 1,624 | 1,326 | 16 | 12 | 128 | 4 | 52 | 86 | 169 |
| Gonzales | 8,187 | 3,464 | 81 | 124 | 190 | 14 | 3,958 | 356 | 7,276 |
| Greenfield | 16,330 | 5,976 | 183 | 878 | 179 | 13 | 8,453 | 648 | 14,917 |
| King City | 12,874 | 6,173 | 150 | 347 | 172 | 8 | 5,451 | 573 | 11,266 |
| Marina | 19,718 | 8,904 | 1,487 | 140 | 3,931 | 544 | 2,738 | 1,974 | 5,372 |
| Monterey | 27,810 | 21,788 | 777 | 149 | 2,204 | 91 | 1,382 | 1,419 | 3,817 |
| Pacific Grove | 15,041 | 12,710 | 199 | 78 | 872 | 49 | 469 | 664 | 1,615 |
| Salinas | 150,441 | 68,973 | 2,993 | 1,888 | 9,438 | 478 | 59,041 | 7,630 | 112,799 |
| Sand City | 334 | 223 | 13 | 3 | 16 | 1 | 61 | 17 | 123 |
| Seaside | 33,025 | 15,978 | 2,783 | 347 | 3,206 | 529 | 7,579 | 2,603 | 14,347 |
| Soledad | 25,738 | 12,625 | 2,945 | 367 | 757 | 103 | 8,189 | 752 | 18,308 |
|
place |
Population |
|
American |
American |
|
Islander |
races |
more races |
or Latino (of any race) |
| Aromas‡ | 1,358 | 1,026 | 7 | 24 | 35 | 1 | 194 | 71 | 511 |
| Boronda | 1,710 | 661 | 10 | 26 | 116 | 7 | 774 | 116 | 1,457 |
| Bradley | 93 | 85 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
| Carmel Valley Village | 4,407 | 4,044 | 21 | 22 | 70 | 11 | 120 | 119 | 328 |
| Castroville | 6,481 | 2,807 | 96 | 96 | 169 | 9 | 2,955 | 349 | 5,841 |
| Chualar | 1,190 | 337 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 0 | 827 | 12 | 1,151 |
| Del Monte Forest | 4,514 | 3,922 | 43 | 10 | 388 | 3 | 57 | 91 | 167 |
| Elkhorn | 1,565 | 1,122 | 9 | 7 | 63 | 3 | 286 | 75 | 588 |
| Las Lomas | 3,024 | 1,167 | 37 | 93 | 53 | 24 | 1,490 | 160 | 2,696 |
| Lockwood | 379 | 297 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 14 | 100 |
| Moss Landing | 204 | 149 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 14 | 46 |
| Pajaro | 3,070 | 1,451 | 15 | 78 | 53 | 0 | 1,281 | 192 | 2,889 |
| Pine Canyon | 1,822 | 1,173 | 29 | 15 | 18 | 0 | 490 | 97 | 984 |
| Prunedale | 17,560 | 11,771 | 177 | 199 | 672 | 58 | 3,639 | 1,044 | 7,322 |
| San Ardo | 517 | 252 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 245 | 11 | 363 |
| San Lucas | 269 | 113 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 127 | 19 | 224 |
| Spreckels | 673 | 483 | 0 | 13 | 26 | 0 | 130 | 21 | 193 |
|
communities |
Population |
|
American |
American |
|
Islander |
races |
more races |
or Latino (of any race) |
| All others not CDPs (combined) | 51,377 | 38,253 | 690 | 522 | 2,365 | 114 | 7,281 | 2,152 | 14,949 |
| ‡ Note: these numbers reflect only the portion of this CDP in Monterey County | |||||||||
As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 401,762 people, 121,236 households, and 87,896 families residing in the county. The population density was 121 people per square mile (47/km²). There were 131,708 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile (15/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 55.9% White, 3.8% Black or African American, 1.1% Native American, 6.0% Asian, 0.5% Pacific Islander, 27.8% from other races, and 5.0% from two or more races. 46.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 6.3% were of German and 5.4% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 52.9% spoke English, 39.6% Spanish and 1.6% Tagalog as their first language.
There were 121,236 households out of which 39.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 11.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.14 and the average family size was 3.65.
In the county the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 31.4% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 female residents there were 107.3 male residents. For every 100 female residents age 18 and over, there were 107.7 male residents.
The median income for a household in the county was $48,305, and the median income for a family was $51,169. Men had a median income of $38,444 versus $30,036 for women. The per capita income for the county was $20,165. About 9.7% of families and 13.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.4% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.
| Year | GOP | DEM | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 29.9% 38,797 | 68.2% 88,453 | 2.0% 2,533 |
| 2004 | 38.4% 47,838 | 60.4% 75,241 | 1.3% 1,574 |
| 2000 | 37.2% 43,761 | 57.5% 67,618 | 5.2% 6,155 |
| 1996 | 36.7% 39,794 | 53.2% 57,700 | 10.2% 11,064 |
| 1992 | 31.3% 36,461 | 47.0% 54,861 | 21.7% 25,367 |
| 1988 | 49.8% 50,022 | 48.8% 48,998 | 1.4% 1,361 |
| 1984 | 57.2% 55,710 | 41.8% 40,733 | 1.1% 1,027 |
| 1980 | 54.7% 47,452 | 33.5% 29,086 | 11.8% 10,256 |
| 1976 | 51.0% 40,896 | 46.0% 36,849 | 3.0% 2,408 |
| 1972 | 57.0% 47,004 | 39.5% 32,545 | 3.5% 2,859 |
| 1968 | 50.2% 33,670 | 42.1% 28,261 | 7.7% 5,193 |
| 1964 | 37.9% 24,579 | 61.8% 40,093 | 0.3% 172 |
| 1960 | 56.3% 33,428 | 43.4% 25,805 | 0.3% 180 |
| 1956 | 59.5% 29,514 | 40.2% 19,932 | 0.3% 127 |
| 1952 | 62.5% 30,578 | 36.9% 18,051 | 0.6% 286 |
| 1948 | 50.6% 17,233 | 46.1% 15,704 | 3.3% 1,126 |
| 1944 | 45.8% 12,246 | 53.7% 14,342 | 0.5% 140 |
| 1940 | 44.0% 11,810 | 55.0% 14,758 | 1.0% 265 |
| 1936 | 37.7% 7,565 | 61.1% 12,267 | 1.2% 235 |
| 1932 | 39.4% 6,200 | 56.8% 8,942 | 3.9% 608 |
| 1928 | 63.1% 7,228 | 36.1% 4,138 | 0.8% 86 |
| 1924 | 61.1% 4,744 | 11.4% 886 | 27.5% 2,138 |
| 1920 | 67.8% 4,817 | 24.9% 1,771 | 7.3% 521 |
Monterey County is considered to be a strongly Democratic county in Presidential and congressional elections. The county voted for Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry in 2004 and Barack Obama in the 2008 election. The last Republican to win the county was George H.W. Bush in 1988.
Monterey is part of California's 17th congressional district, which is represented by Democrat Sam Farr. In the State Assembly, Monterey is part of the 27th and 28th districts, which are held by Democrats Bill Monning and Anna Caballero, respectively. Monning was first elected to the Assembly in November 2008; Caballero in November 2006. In the State Senate, a small part of Monterey is in the 12th district; most of the county is in the 15th. The 12th district is held by Republican Anthony Cannella and the 15th by Republican Sam Blakeslee, who is considered to be moderate. Cannella was first elected to the Senate in November 2010; Blakeslee in August 2010.
According to the California Secretary of State, as of April, 2008, Monterey County has 147,066 registered voters. Of those voters, 72,550 (49.3%) are registered Democratic, 42,744 (29.1%) are registered Republican, 5,488 (3.7%) are registered with other political parties, and 26,284 (17.9%) declined to state a political party. Except for Sand City, all of the other cities, towns, and the unincorporated area of Monterey County have more individuals registered with the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. In Sand City, the Republicans have the advantage by 1 voter.
On Nov. 4, 2008 Monterey County voted 51.7 % against Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to ban same-sex marriages.
Monterey County is subject to Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act which requires federal preclearance before implementing a change to "any voting qualification or prerequisite to voting."
Monterey County has habitat to support the following endangered species:
Television service for the community comes from the Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz designated market area (DMA). Radio stations Monterey-Salinas-Santa Cruz area of dominant influence (ADI) or continuous measurement market (CMM). Local newspapers include the Monterey County Herald, Monterey County Weekly, Salinas Californian and the Carmel Pine Cone.
As of December 2005, Monterey County ranked among America's ten most expensive counties, with Santa Barbara County topping the list with a median home price of $753,790. In Monterey County, the median home price was $699,900. In the northern, more densely populated part in the county, the median home price was even higher, at $712,500, making it the fourth most expensive housing market in California. The disparity between the median household income of roughly $48,305 and the median home price of $700k has been cause for recent concern over excluding potential home buyers from the market. The end of the United States housing bubble has caused prices to drop substantially, with median home prices having fallen to $280,000 as at September 2008.[6]
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