County Maps US

Monterey County, California

A county in California, ranked 22 of 58 by population.

CountyFIPS 06053

Within California
Monterey County, highlighted, with the areas around it. Boundaries generalised from the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file; neighbour fills carry no data. The dot marks Salinas, the county seat, located via the 2025 Census Gazetteer.

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Population
433,729
-6,764 (-1.5%) since 2020
Land area
3,282
square miles. A further 13.0% of the total area is water
Population density
132
people per square mile, computed rather than published
County seat
Salinas
Seat of county government.
Established
1850
175 years ago
Largest city
Salinas city
Population 159,134.

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; Wikidata (CC0), Wikidata. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Satellite view

Aerial imagery of Monterey County with its boundary drawn on top. A map shows you the shape; this shows you what is inside it, and which side of the line a place falls on.

Aerial view of Monterey County, California from the USGS National Map, with its boundary outlined
Imagery: USGS National Map, USGS Imagery Only, public domain, requested from USGS by your browser when you reach this point on the page, at 800 by 655 pixels. The boundary is the 2025 Census cartographic boundary file, reprojected to Web Mercator to match the imagery. You can also open the USGS National Map viewer.

Where Monterey County ranks

Position among the 58 counties of California, and among all 3,144 US counties and county-equivalents. Computed from the figures on this page.

MeasureValueIn CaliforniaNationally
Population433,72922nd of 58175th of 3,144
Land area3,282 sq mi17th of 58156th of 3,144
Population density132 per sq mi26th of 58755th of 3,144
Median household income$97,23021st of 58196th of 3,143

Full data for Monterey County

Every figure below is attributed to the Census Bureau product it came from, with the vintage of that product.
MeasureValueSource and vintage
Population433,729Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Population in 2020440,493Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
2020 estimates base?441,022Vintage 2025 Population Estimates
Land area3,282 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Water area489.5 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Total area3,771 sq mi2025 Gazetteer Files
Population density?132 per sq miComputed: Vintage 2025 estimates divided by 2025 Gazetteer land area
Median household income$97,230American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median home value$781,000American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Median age35.5American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Households132,489American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates
Housing units145,469American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates

Sources: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026; US Census Bureau, Gazetteer Files, 2025 Gazetteer Files, released 10 September 2025; US Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-Year Estimates, released 29 January 2026. Population density is computed here, not published: it divides the Vintage 2025 population estimate by the 2025 Gazetteer land area, which are two different Census products. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

How the population changed

The Census Bureau publishes the components behind an estimate, not just the total. For the year to July 2025:

Births minus deaths
+2,440
5,277 births, 2,837 deaths
Net migration
-2,176
More people moved out than moved in.

Source: US Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates, released 26 March 2026. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

The 5 areas bordering Monterey County

Ordered by the length of the border actually shared, which the Census Bureau publishes in its county adjacency file and which no other county reference presents.

Bordering areaStateShared borderPopulation
San Benito CountyCalifornia124 mi70,082
San Luis Obispo CountyCalifornia69 mi282,367
Fresno CountyCalifornia50 mi1,035,456
Santa Cruz CountyCalifornia30 mi258,852
Kings CountyCalifornia14 mi154,327

Source: US Census Bureau, County Adjacency File, 2025 County Adjacency File, released 15 September 2025. Retrieved 30 August 2026.

Side by side

All 58 counties of California

Open the interactive California county map, or jump straight to any of them.

Data on this page last rebuilt 30 August 2026. How these figures are produced.