Cost of Living and Housing in Watsonville, California

Watsonville has about 51,712 residents. Median gross rent is $1,889 per month and median household income is $78,393.

Comparison scope: “dataset median” below means the median among 1,211 cities across 10 states in this dataset. It is not presented as a nationwide Census median. The figures use 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year estimates and may lag current listings.

Median Gross Rent $1,889/mo 14% above the dataset median

Median Home Value $686,000 83% above the dataset median

Median Household Income $78,393 7% below the dataset median

Owner-Occupied Homes 45% Share of occupied housing units

Rent-to-Income Baseline 29% Annual median rent ÷ household income

Home Value-to-Income 8.8x Median value ÷ household income

How Watsonville compares

Rent is 14% above the dataset median, while household income is 7% below the dataset median. Within California, Watsonville ranks #126 from lowest to highest rent and #278 from highest to lowest household income among 347 cities in this dataset.

The rent-to-income figure compares two citywide medians. It is useful for broad comparison, but it is not an individual household budget or a measure of renter cost burden.

Similar-size cities in California

Frequently asked questions

What is the median rent in Watsonville?

Median gross rent is $1,889 per month in the 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year estimates.

What is the median home value in Watsonville?

The median value of owner-occupied homes is $686,000 in the 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year estimates.

What is the median household income?

Median household income in Watsonville is $78,393 per year.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020-2024 ACS 5-Year Estimates. Local database refreshed 2026-07-11.