WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA

'Watsonville' is a city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States. The population was 44,265 at the 2000 census.
Like neighboring Salinas in Monterey County, Watsonville produces a variety of fruits and vegetables, primarily strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and table mushrooms. Martinelli's, a producer of sparkling apple cider, is headquartered there, as are Driscoll's Strawberries, and West Marine.

Contents

Geography

Environmental features

Demographics

External links

Geography

Watsonville is located at (36.920054, -121.763725).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.7 km² (6.4 mi²). 16.4 km² (6.3 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (1.24%) is water.

Environmental features

The City of Watsonville has habitat areas that support the endangered species Santa Cruz Tarweed on the California coastal prairie ecosystem. Considerable population growth occurred since 1980, requiring preparation of a number of Environmental Impact Reports, with resultant development removing certain lands of the city from productive natural habitat.
Most of the coastal land adjacent to Watsonville is part of the Monterey Bay Sanctuary, a designation championed by
former Assemblyman Leon Panetta. Heading away from the coast, the backdrop features the southern end of the Santa Cruz Mountains, making this town a little "hideout", from Silicon Valley.
The town is flanked by agricultural land all around its perimeter.

Demographics

'Watsonville'
Population by year ^[1]

Year	Pop.
1860	398
1870	1,151
1880	1,799
1890	2,149
1900	3,528
1910	4,446
1920	5,013
1930	8,344
1940	8,937
1950	11,572
1960	13,293
1970	14,569
1980	23,543
1990	31,099
2000	44,265

As of the census of 2000, there were 44,265 people, 11,381 households, and 8,865 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,691.5/km² (6,969.4/mi²). There were 11,695 housing units at an average density of 711.1/km² (1,841.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 43.00% White, 0.75% African American, 1.74% Native American, 3.29% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 45.92% from other races, and 5.18% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 75.12% of the population, with the majority of these being of Mexican origin.
There were 11,381 households out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.3% were married couples living together, 16.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.1% were non-families. 17.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.84 and the average family size was 4.26.
In the city the population was spread out with 34.0% under the age of 18, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 15.1% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 27 years. For every 100 females there were 101.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,617, and the median income for a family was $40,293. Males had a median income of $26,701 versus $22,225 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,205. About 15.4% of families and 19.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.8% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

External links

★ Official City Website

★ Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council - Watsonville Visitor Information

★ Watsonville Public Library