2025

Cities in Santa Cruz County, CA ranked by Other Race Population

This list ranks the 4 cities in Santa Cruz County based on their Some Other Race (SOR) population, as estimated by the United States Census Bureau. It also highlights population changes in these cities over the past five years.
Updated Jan 24, 2025

Top 5 cities with the largest Other Race population in Santa Cruz County

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  • 1
    Watsonville
    Other Race population in Watsonville is 32,516
    51.51% of Watsonville population is Other Race
  • 2
    Santa Cruz
    Other Race population in Santa Cruz is 9,478
    13.62% of Santa Cruz population is Other Race
  • 3
    Capitola
    Other Race population in Capitola is 2,009
    18.28% of Capitola population is Other Race
  • 4
    Scotts Valley
    Other Race population in Scotts Valley is 1,124
    8.58% of Scotts Valley population is Other Race

List of 4 cities in Santa Cruz County, CA by Other Race Population

View Methodology
Rank by Other Race Population
City
Other Race Population
% of Total City Population
% of Total Santa Cruz County Other Race Population
5 Year Rank Trend
1 Watsonville 32,516 51.51% 72.05%
2 Santa Cruz 9,478 13.62% 21.00%
3 Capitola 2,009 18.28% 4.45%
4 Scotts Valley 1,124 8.58% 2.49%

Methodology

This ranking list is based on data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 5-Year Estimates, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The ACS is one of the most reliable sources for understanding population trends across different locations, and it provides estimates for various racial and ethnic groups at city, county, state and all geography levels down to the Census block group.
This list ranks cities in Santa Cruz County, CA by their Some Other Race (SOR) population, using the most recent ACS data available.

How the Census Defines Other Race Population

The U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-identify their race, meaning individuals can choose one or more racial categories when responding to the survey. In this ranking, we include everyone who identifies as Other Race, whether alone or in combination with another race.
Here are a few important things to know about how race is reported:
  • Some people identify as Other Race alone, while others identify as Other Race along with another race (such as Other Race and White).
  • Hispanic / Latino origin is reported separately from race, so someone can be both Hispanic and Other Race .
  • We’ve used the “Other Race alone or in combination” category unless noted otherwise, which gives a broader picture of the Other Race population in each area.

How We Ranked the Data

This ranking is based on the total number of people who identified as Other Race alone or in combination in cities. To provide additional context, we’ve also included two key percentages:
  1. % of Total City Population – This shows what percentage of the total state population identifies as Other Race .
  2. % of Total Santa Cruz County Other Race Population – This tells us how much of the entire U.S. Other Race population lives in that state.
To keep things simple, all population numbers have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and percentages are rounded to one decimal place. Because of rounding, some percentages may not add up to exactly 100%.

Things to Keep in Mind

Like all survey-based data, ACS estimates come with some limitations. Here are a few things to be aware of:
  • In places with very small Other Race populations, the numbers may not be reported at all due to privacy protections or sampling variability in the survey.
  • Since the ACS is based on a sample, the numbers are estimates, not exact counts. That means they may slightly differ from other sources like the decennial U.S. Census.
  • Cities that don’t have any reported Other Race population are not included in the ranking but are listed separately below for reference.
This ranking is meant to provide a clear, data-driven look at where Other Race populations are most concentrated while keeping the numbers easy to understand.

Sources

U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS) 2019-2023 5-Year Estimates.