Scotts Valley, CA population, income and ZIP codes

Scotts Valley city is a mid-size town in California, with 12,138 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #451 of 1,618 ranked by population — larger than 72% of them. The median age here is 47.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in Scotts Valley city earn a median of $140,887 a year, 79.4% above the national figure of $78,538 and 55% above the $91,111 median for the 1,050 California cities we cover. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 4.8% of residents here, less than half the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Scotts Valley city is valued at $1,092,000, 259.9% above the national figure and 85% above the $589,600 peer median, while median gross rent runs $2,362 a month, 68% above the national figure, or roughly $28,344 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 20.1% 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 7.8×, 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. 72.5% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. 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 7.8× 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.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. 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.