Salinas, California Population 2021

Salinas, the county seat of Monterey County, is an urban area located 10 miles east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River and just outside the Greater Bay Area.

Diversity

About 38% of people in Salinas, CA were born outside the U.S. The city of Salinas has a Hispanic-majority population; nearly three quarters of its residents are Latino, many of them immigrants from Mexico who arrived to work in the region’s agricultural fields.

Population Growth

In 1870, just prior to being incorporated, the population stood at 599 people. This more than tripled in the ten years that followed and, as of the latest 2019 figures, the population of Salinas stands at 157,596.

Salinas struggles with a high youth crime rate, being dubbed the “youth murder capital of California.” On top of this, a lack of affordable housing has kept its growth rate from climbing in later years. The city is expected to continue its modest growth since recovering from the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

On September 9th, 1850, California was admitted to the Union and officially became a state. 1867 saw the first streets laid out for Salinas and the town was incorporated in 1874. Post-war, major urban and suburban development converted what was mainly farmland to a thriving city. The 1950s and 1960s saw a particularly large growth spurt, which was seen again in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Agriculture has always been the area's major industry. This “green gold” went some considerable way toward making Salinas one of the wealthiest cities per capita in the U.S. shortly after the end of World War I. Today, this fuels a $2 billion industry, supplying the country with 80% of its lettuce and artichokes, amongst many other crops.

Salinas is also the birthplace of Nobel Prize laureate John Steinbeck. The historic downtown district is home to the National Steinbeck Center, John Steinbeck House and the John Steinbeck Library.