Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA brief

Rule set version 1, status watch · covering 2026-09

9 findings fired for Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA this run, against a typical home value of $1,136,154 in September 2026 and covered employment of 100,397 in 2026 Q1.

The full Santa Cruz, CA page, with the occupation mix and every section’s source.

Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA: 9 findings, 2 at a watch level and 7 noted

  1. watchSanta Cruz-Watsonville, CA's price-to-rent ratio of 27.3 ranks 5th of 379 US metro areas, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US metro areas (position among the metro areas that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • test: priceToRent percentile = 98.94179894179894 >= 90
    • typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month

    position among the metro areas that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level

  2. watchSanta Cruz-Watsonville, CA's price-to-rent ratio is 27.3, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • test: priceToRent = 27.28994837004487 >= 25
    • typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month

    typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level

  3. noteSanta Cruz-Watsonville, CA's typical home value rose 0.4% from $1,131,485 in August 2026 to $1,136,154 in September 2026, on Zillow ZHVI.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • +0.4% = (1136154.021880075 - 1131485.4814250658) / 1131485.4814250658 × 100
    • 1136154.021880075 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-09
    • 1131485.4814250658 = Zillow ZHVI, 2026-08

  4. noteSanta Cruz-Watsonville, CA's typical asking rent fell 0.3% from $3,480 in August 2026 to $3,469 in September 2026, on Zillow ZORI.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • -0.3% = (3469.391020441272 - 3479.932791269984) / 3479.932791269984 × 100
    • 3469.391020441272 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-09
    • 3479.932791269984 = Zillow ZORI, 2026-08

  5. noteSanta Cruz-Watsonville, CA's typical home value of $1,136,154 ranks 2nd of 379 US metro areas, against a median of $305,707.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 100 on the 0-to-100 scale across 379 US metro areas that published home.latest

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  6. noteSanta Cruz-Watsonville, CA's typical asking rent of $3,469 ranks 3rd of 382 US metro areas, against a median of $1,504.

    Period 2026-09.
    Show the arithmetic
    • 99 on the 0-to-100 scale across 382 US metro areas that published rent.latest

    position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level

  7. noteThe next Unemployment rate (BLS Employment Situation, monthly) covering Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA is due between 2026-10-30 and 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-10-30 to 2026-11-13, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

  8. noteThe next Zillow ZHVI typical home value (monthly) covering Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

  9. noteThe next Zillow ZORI typical rent (monthly) covering Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA is due between 2026-11-14 and 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern.

    Show the arithmetic
    • window = 2026-11-14 to 2026-11-21, estimated from the publisher's past release pattern

    estimated from the publisher's past release pattern; not an announced date

Next release

BTS Border Crossing Entry Data (monthly), between 2026-10-10 and 2026-10-30 (approximate).

Sources #

  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
  • publishedZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • publishedZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv · period 2026-09 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • estimateQuarterly Census of Employment and WagesU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · jobs = sum of QCEW third-month employment across the 1 of 1 member counties BLS publishes. 100,397 = 100,397
  • publishedOccupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsopen the source
    MSA 42100, all occupations · period May 2025 · retrieved 2026-10-19
  • estimateZillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns
  • estimateZillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)Zillow Researchopen the source
    · retrieved 2026-10-19 · month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns

Citations

  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). series Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zhvi/Metro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). series Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. period 2026-09. https://files.zillowstatic.com/research/public_csvs/zori/Metro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. https://www.bls.gov/cew/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: jobs = sum of QCEW third-month employment across the 1 of 1 member counties BLS publishes. 100,397 = 100,397.
  • U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. series MSA 42100, all occupations. period May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/tables.htm. accessed 2026-10-19.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.
  • Zillow Research. Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI). https://www.zillow.com/research/data/. accessed 2026-10-19. estimate computed by Embedding Atlas: month-over-month percent change = (newest month − previous month) / |previous month| × 100, from Zillow's own published month columns.

What these numbers are not

  • A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank across the entities that published the metric this period: the smallest published value scores 0 and the largest scores 100. It is not the share of entities below the value, and entities that did not publish the metric are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
  • The named indicators shown beside this brief are national or basin-level series, not measurements of Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA; 30-year fixed mortgage rate (watch), Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual (watch), Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate (watch) and WTI crude oil, spot (watch) are at a watch or alert level. They are context.

Page assembled 2026-10-19T22:39:35.426Z. Place identity tables pulled 2026-10-01.