Migration to and from Santa Cruz County, California
Where Santa Cruz County residents came from and where they went over the 5-year window 2016-2020. Census ACS County-to-County Migration Flows, 2020 5-yr (frozen vintage).
Total inflow
21,210
people moved in (5-yr)
Total outflow
16,828
people moved out (5-yr)
Net migration
+4,382
inflow minus outflow
Top 10 counties people moved IN from
| Origin | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County | California | 4,402 |
| Los Angeles County | California | 1,681 |
| San Mateo County | California | 958 |
| Monterey County | California | 899 |
| Alameda County | California | 855 |
| San Diego County | California | 773 |
| Asia | 634 | |
| San Francisco County | California | 611 |
| Contra Costa County | California | 536 |
| Europe | 517 |
Top 10 counties people moved OUT to
| Destination | State / Region | People (5-yr) |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Clara County | California | 2,272 |
| Monterey County | California | 1,424 |
| Los Angeles County | California | 761 |
| Alameda County | California | 736 |
| Sacramento County | California | 597 |
| Shasta County | California | 399 |
| Sonoma County | California | 370 |
| San Diego County | California | 361 |
| Contra Costa County | California | 341 |
| Orange County | California | 307 |
Explore Santa Cruz County
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Methodology
- Counts represent the number of people aged 1+ who reported a different residence at the survey reference date than they did one year earlier, aggregated across the 5-year sample window 2016-2020.
- Outbound (OUT) flows are reported less frequently than inbound (IN) because the survey captures the destination side of each move. Many county pairs have null OUT counts, which is normal.
- "Total inflow" sums the published MOVEDIN counts across all origin counties, including foreign-region inflows (Africa, Asia, Central America, etc.). It is not the same as net population change.
- Frozen vintage. The Census Bureau has not released a newer county-to-county migration flows file. The 2020 5-yr vintage (covering 2016-2020) is the latest available as of build date.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, County-to-County Migration Flows: 2016-2020. Vintage: 2020 5-yr. Generated: 2026-05-28. FIPS: 06087.