Santa Ana, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Santa Ana city is a mid-size city in California, with 311,639 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #13 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 99% of them. The median age here is 34.3 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Santa Ana city earn a median of $88,354 a year, 12.5% above the national figure of $78,538 and 3% below the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. This figure covers the household, not the worker: two people on ordinary wages at one address outrank a single professional in the same table. Poverty reaches 11.1% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Santa Ana city is valued at $657,800, 116.8% above the national figure and 12% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,975 a month, 40.5% above the national figure, or roughly $23,700 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 26.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 7.4×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 44.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Home values sit at 7.4× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.