2020 census As of the
2020 census, the county had a population of 439,035, with a median age of 35.0 years; 25.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 14.2% were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 100.6 males age 18 and older. The racial makeup of the county was 36.2% White, 2.3%
Black or African American, 2.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native, 6.1%
Asian, 0.5%
Native Hawaiian and
Pacific Islander, 34.2% from some other race, and 17.9% from
two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 60.4% of the population. 85.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 14.3% lived in rural areas. There were 131,789 households in the county, of which 40.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 25.6% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. Generally, the western/southern parts of the Monterey Peninsula,
Carmel Valley, Creekbridge (Salinas), and eastern parts of
Prunedale were the county's most affluent and educated (see dark blue on map). These areas had a median household income significantly above that of the California or the U.S. overall (typically above $95,000 vs. $60,000 for California and $52,000 for the U.S.) and comprised roughly 8%-10% of neighborhoods (as defined by Census Block Groups). Educational attainment was at least on part with, or above, state and national levels, in these areas while the percentage of people living in poverty was typically a third or less than national and statewide average (with the exception of South Salinas). Social deprivation (poverty and low levels of educational attainment) was concentrated in the central and eastern parts of Salinas, and central areas of Monterey, Seaside, Marina, Soledad and King City. In central and eastern Salinas up to 46% of individuals lived below the poverty line and those without a secondary educations formed a plurality or majority of residents. ''* Asterisk denotes a hypothetical rank among Monterey County's 226 Census Block Groups (e.g. if the U.S. overall was a Census Block Group in Monterey County, it would be the 141st most affluent of 226).''
Least affluent neighborhoods About 4.5% of neighborhoods, as defined by Census Block Groups, had a median household income below $30,000 per year, about 60% below the national median. This coincided with the 10 poorest of the 20 lowest income neighborhoods listed in the table below.
2000 census As of the
census of 2000, there were 401,762 people, 121,236 households, and 87,896 families residing in the county. The
population density was . There were 131,708 housing units at an average density of . 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 the 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. ==Government==