Monterey County, California

Monterey County is a county in California, United States, on the Central Coast about 65 miles south of San Jose. It had a population of 439,035 at the 2020 census, an estimated 433,729 by 2025, and covers 3,772 square miles (9,770 km2) centred near 36°14′N 121°19′W.

Salinas is the county seat and Monterey County’s largest city; its postal code is 93901. The county holds 12 incorporated cities and roughly 90 unincorporated communities and place names on record, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 06053.

Towns & Villages in Monterey County

Monterey County has 12 incorporated cities, ranging from Salinas down to Sand City, plus dozens of unincorporated communities with no city government of their own. CDP stands for census designated place, a Census Bureau boundary drawn for statistics only; Unincorp. covers smaller crossroads and place names with no formal boundary at all.

The county’s largest unincorporated places outnumber several of its cities. This second table lists the six with the biggest 2020 population; roughly 90 more named communities, hamlets and rural crossroads appear in Census and USPS records, from the scattered coastal settlements of Big Sur to farm-labor housing areas like Bolsa Knolls and Springtown, most with no population count or ZIP of their own.

Three places on this list share the Carmel name and are easy to confuse: Carmel-by-the-Sea is the incorporated coastal city; Carmel Valley Village, 13 miles inland, is an unincorporated crossroads town; and Carmel Valley itself is a separate, larger CDP covering the ranchland between them. Monterey the city and Monterey County share a name because the county was named for the city, not the reverse — the bay came first, in 1602.

ZIP Codes

• 93901 — Salinas (downtown; also serves 93902–93908, 93912 and 93915 across the rest of the city)
• 93955 — Seaside (also covers Sand City, which has no ZIP of its own)
• 93940 — Monterey (also covers Del Rey Oaks, which has no ZIP of its own)
• 93960 — Soledad
• 93933 — Marina
• 93927 — Greenfield
• 93950 — Pacific Grove
• 93930 — King City
• 93926 — Gonzales
• 93921–93923 — Carmel-by-the-Sea
• 93907 — Prunedale and Boronda
• 95012 — Castroville
• 93924 — Carmel Valley Village
• 93953 — Del Monte Forest (the Pebble Beach ZIP)
• 95076 — Pajaro (shared with Watsonville, across the county line)

Sand City and Del Rey Oaks are both small enough that the Postal Service delivers them under a neighboring city’s ZIP rather than issuing their own; the dozens of smaller unincorporated places likewise use whichever incorporated town’s post office is closest.

Geography

Monterey County sits on California’s Central Coast, where the Santa Lucia Range runs down to the Pacific along the Big Sur coastline and the flat Salinas Valley opens inland behind it. Of the county’s 3,772 square miles, 3,281 are land and 491 are water — about 13 percent, mostly Monterey Bay itself rather than any inland lake. The Salinas River, the county’s longest waterway, runs the length of the valley from the San Luis Obispo County line to Monterey Bay near Marina.

Santa Cruz County borders Monterey to the north across the Pajaro River, San Benito County lies to the northeast, Fresno County to the east, Kings County to the southeast, and San Luis Obispo County to the south. The Pacific Ocean forms the entire western edge. Santa Cruz County, San Benito County, Fresno County and San Luis Obispo County all have their own pages here; Kings County does not yet.

Demographics

Monterey County had a population of 439,035 at the 2020 census, and recent estimates put the county between roughly 433,700 and 437,600 residents depending on the year measured. Salinas and Seaside are by far the two largest communities, together holding close to 200,000 people, or nearly half the county. Median household income runs an estimated $97,230, slightly above California’s statewide figure of roughly $95,521. Population density works out to about 134 people per square mile of land, low for coastal California and a reflection of how much of the county is farmland, forest and protected coastline rather than built-up towns.

Economy & Local Life

Agriculture employs the most workers in the county, about 26,600 people, followed by health care and social assistance at nearly 22,000 and educational services at over 18,000. The Salinas Valley grows roughly 60 percent of the leaf lettuce sold in the United States, along with strawberries, wine grapes and Castroville’s signature artichokes, earning Salinas its long-standing nickname “The Salad Bowl of the World.” Along the coast, tourism and hospitality dominate: the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row draw visitors to Monterey, and Pebble Beach’s golf resorts anchor Del Monte Forest’s economy. The Presidio of Monterey, the Naval Postgraduate School and the Defense Language Institute together make the military and language-education sector a major employer in Monterey and Seaside, while Fort Hunter Liggett, an Army training installation in the county’s southern interior, is one of the largest employers in that part of the valley. The county’s biggest annual event is the California Rodeo Salinas each July, one of the oldest professional rodeos in the United States.

History

California’s first state legislature organized Monterey County on 18 February 1850, one of the state’s original 27 counties at statehood; part of its eastern territory was later split off to help form San Benito County in 1874. The county takes its name from Monterey Bay, named in 1602 by the Spanish explorer Sebastián Vizcaíno in honor of the Conde de Monterrey, then viceroy of New Spain. The city of Monterey served as the capital of Alta California under both Spanish and Mexican rule, and it hosted the 1849 convention that drafted California’s first state constitution.

The county’s farm economy was built largely on Mexican and, later, Filipino, Japanese and Central American labor working the Salinas Valley’s fields under often harsh conditions. In 1970, the United Farm Workers, led by César Chávez, organized a major strike among Salinas Valley lettuce workers that spread across the valley and drew national attention to farmworker pay and working conditions; the union’s roots in the area remain part of the county’s labor history today.

Getting There

U.S. Route 101 runs the length of the Salinas Valley through Salinas, Gonzales, Soledad, King City and San Ardo, carrying most north-south traffic through the county. State Route 1 hugs the coast, linking Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel-by-the-Sea and the Big Sur coastline to the south.

• San Jose — about 65 miles north
• Santa Cruz — about 40 miles north
• San Luis Obispo — about 100 miles south
• Fresno — about 100 miles east

Monterey Regional Airport, on the eastern edge of the city of Monterey, offers commercial flights to several West Coast hubs. San Jose Mineta International Airport, roughly 75 miles north, is the nearest large commercial hub with broader route options. Amtrak’s Coast Starlight stops at the Salinas station on West Market Street, connecting to Los Angeles and Seattle.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Monterey County located?
It sits on California’s Central Coast, about 65 miles south of San Jose, bordered by Santa Cruz, San Benito, Fresno, Kings and San Luis Obispo counties and the Pacific Ocean.

What is the population of Monterey County?
439,035 at the 2020 census, with recent estimates in the range of 433,700 to 437,600.

How big is Monterey County?
3,772 square miles (9,770 km2) in total, of which 3,281 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Monterey County?
Salinas, the county’s largest city, is the county seat.

How many cities are in Monterey County?
Twelve incorporated cities — Salinas, Seaside, Monterey, Soledad, Marina, Greenfield, Pacific Grove, King City, Gonzales, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Del Rey Oaks and Sand City — plus roughly 90 unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Monterey County use?
93901 through 93908, 93912 and 93915 for Salinas; 93921–93923 for Carmel-by-the-Sea; and separate codes for each of the county’s other cities and larger unincorporated places, listed above.

What is Monterey County known for?
The Salinas Valley’s lettuce and vegetable farms, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row, Pebble Beach’s golf courses, and the birthplace of novelist John Steinbeck.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in California.