San Benito County, California

San Benito County population, land area and income

San Benito County had 69,159 residents in the Census Vintage 2024 estimate, on 1,388.7 square miles of land. It ranks 40th of 58 in California by population and 35th by land area. That works out to 49.8 people per square mile, below the US average of 96.3, and above the national county median.

The median county-equivalent in California has 187,274 residents, so San Benito County has 37% of the typical county's population.

Its SAIPE 2023 median household income of $105,112 is in the top tenth among 3,143 counties with an estimate.

How San Benito County's population changed since 2020

San Benito County gained 4,626 residents between the July 2020 and July 2024 estimates, a rise of 7.2%. That ranks 1st of 58 in California for growth. The median California county changed by -0.6%, and the state as a whole by -0.2%.

Since the April 2020 estimates base, San Benito County recorded 3,477 births and 1,973 deaths, a natural change of +1,504. Net international migration added +377 and net domestic migration, people moving to or from other US counties, came to +3,145. The largest single component was domestic migration, which added 3,145 people.

Where San Benito County is

The Census internal point of San Benito County is at 36.611700, -121.085800. It sits in UTM zone 10N. The map shades California's 58 county-equivalents by population change from 2020 to 2024, darker for faster growth, with San Benito County outlined. Dots are towns of 1,000+ people with residents in it.

Towns in San Benito County

2 incorporated places of 1,000+ people have residents in San Benito County, 47,151 people together, or 68% of the county. Each figure counts only the part of the town inside San Benito County; towns marked "part" extend into another county. The largest is Hollister with 45,033.

Counties bordering San Benito County

The Census 2024 county adjacency file lists 5 neighbors for San Benito County. The most populous is Santa Clara County, CA, with 1,926,325 residents. Distances run between Census internal points in a straight line.

• Santa Clara County

  1,926,325 people

  54 mi NW

• Fresno County

  1,024,125 people

  80 mi E

• Monterey County

  436,251 people

  29 mi SSW

• Merced County

  296,774 people

  45 mi NNE

• Santa Cruz County

  262,406 people

  58 mi WNW

Distance to Sacramento and the nearest big city

Sacramento is 137.6 miles N of San Benito County's internal point in a straight line. The nearest place of 100,000 or more is Salinas, CA (population 160,783), 30.9 miles away. The nearest place of 10,000 or more is Soledad, CA (population 26,345), 17.8 miles away.

San Benito County FIPS code

The FIPS code of San Benito County is 06069: state code 06 for California plus county code 069. Use it as text, with the leading zero, when joining Census, BLS, or CDC county tables. SAIPE lists its 2023 median household income as $105,112.