Santa Cruz County, CA jobs, unemployment and layoffs

Santa Cruz County’s unemployment rate is 5.3%. Employers filed 1 layoff notices here in the last 12 months. 98 open professional jobs are in its cities.

Santa Cruz County economy

5.3%
unemployment, Aug 2026
5.6% the month before
138,998
in the labor force
Source: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics
266,021
people in Santa Cruz County
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
$109,266
median household income
Source: Census ACS
48%
of workers in white-collar occupations
Management, business, financial and professional; Census ACS

Santa Cruz County layoffs

1
WARN layoff notices, last 12 months
1
workers named
A floor: states may leave out counts
1
employer

WARN notices filed in Santa Cruz County, newest first
Notice date	Employer	City or county	Workers	Type	Source
Jul 27, 2026	Yerba Mate Co., LLC - Santa CruzTakes effect Sep 1, 2026	Santa Cruz County	1	Layoff Permanent	State record

All layoff notices in the state

Employers hiring most in Santa Cruz County

Employers with the most open professional roles in this county’s cities. The county is taken from each job’s city, so roles with no city are not counted.

Joby Aviation46 open roles
Heron Power11 open roles
Granite Construction Company9 open roles
Capstan Medical8 open roles
Acadia Healthcare Company3 open roles
CVS Health2 open roles
Cynch AI2 open roles
Hoxton Circle2 open roles
HP2 open roles
Morgan Stanley2 open roles

Colleges in Santa Cruz County

Colleges in Santa Cruz County
College	City	Type	Students
University of California-Santa Cruz	Santa Cruz	Public 4-year	10,000–19,999

Workforce development and job centers

The public workforce board and American Job Centers serving Santa Cruz County. They offer free help with job search, training and filing for benefits.

Santa Cruz County Workforce Development Board
Santa Cruz

Capitola Career Center - America`s Job Center of California (AJCC)
Capitola · Affiliate · 831-464-6286
Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm
SCCOE - Suenos Youth Program Services
Freedom · Affiliate · 831-466-5672
Monday-Friday 9a.m.-5p.m.
Santa Cruz County, Workforce, Watsonville Career Center
Watsonville · Comprehensive · 831-763-8933
Monday - Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm Closed 12:00 noon - 1pm

Cities in Santa Cruz County

Other California counties

All of California

Laid off or looking for work in Santa Cruz County?

See what to do first and the jobs open near you.

See your options after a layoff

Sources: Census Bureau and BLS (county unemployment is not seasonally adjusted); WARN notices from California’s published record; job counts from our live job board; IPEDS for colleges; CareerOneStop for workforce boards and job centers.