Santa Clara County, California facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Santa Clara County
County
Clockwise: Downtown San Jose skyline; Hillsides in Morgan Hill; Alviso, San Jose; View of Santa Clara Valley; Almaden Reservoir in South San Jose; Stanford University.
Flag Seal
Location in the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
Region	San Francisco Bay Area
Incorporated	February 18, 1850
Named for	Mission Santa Clara de Asís, St. Clare of Assisi
County seat and largest city	San Jose
Government
• Type	Council–CEO
• Body	Board of Supervisors
Area
• Total	1,304 sq mi (3,380 km2)
• Land	1,290 sq mi (3,300 km2)
• Water	14 sq mi (40 km2)
Highest elevation	4,216 ft (1,285 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,936,259
• Density	1,484.9/sq mi (573.31/km2)
GDP
• Total	$400.778 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Area codes	408/669, 650
FIPS code	06-085
GNIS feature ID	277307
Congressional districts	16th, 17th, 18th, 19th

Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County form the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metropolitan statistical area, which is part of the larger San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area. Santa Clara is the most populous county in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Northern California.

The county seat and largest city with a population of 971,233 is San Jose, the 13th-most populous city in the nation, California's third-most populous city, and the most populous city in Northern California.

Home to Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County is an economic center for high technology, and had the third-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world as of 2015 behind Zürich and Oslo, according to the Brookings Institution. Located on the southern coast of San Francisco Bay, the urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County contains most of the county's population. More recently, extensive droughts in California, further complicated by drainage of the Anderson reservoir within the county for seismic repairs, have strained the county's water security.

As of 2020, it has a median household income of $130,890, the third-highest household income of any county in the nation behind Loudoun County, Virginia and Falls Church, Virginia, and the highest of any county in the Western United States.

Etymology

Santa Clara County is named for Mission Santa Clara, which was established in 1777, and was in turn named for Saint Clare of Assisi.

History

Santa Clara County was one of the original counties of California, formed in 1850 at the time of statehood. The original inhabitants included the Ohlone, residing on Coyote Creek and Calaveras Creek. Part of the county's territory was given to Alameda County in 1853.

In 1882, Santa Clara County tried to levy taxes upon property of the Southern Pacific Railroad within county boundaries. The result was the U.S. Supreme Court case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, 118 U.S. 394 (1886), in which the court extended due-process rights to artificial legal entities.

In the early 20th century, the area was promoted as the "Valley of the Heart's Delight" due to its natural beauty, including a significant number of orchards. The region was also memorably referred to as the "sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley" in Jack London's 1903 Call of the Wild.

The first major technology company to be based in the area was Hewlett-Packard, founded in a garage in Palo Alto in 1939. IBM selected San Jose as its West Coast headquarters in 1943. Varian Associates, Fairchild Semiconductor, and other early innovators were in the county by the late 1940s and 1950s. The U.S. Navy had a large presence in the area and began giving large contracts to Silicon Valley electronics companies. The term "Silicon Valley" was coined in 1971. The trend accelerated in the 1980s and 1990s, and agriculture has since been nearly eliminated from the northern part of the county.

Santa Clara County is the headquarters for about 6500 high-technology companies, including many of the world's largest such companies, including AMD, Nvidia, Cisco Systems, and Intel, computer and consumer electronics companies Apple Inc. and Hewlett-Packard, and internet companies eBay, Google, and Yahoo!. Most of what is considered to be Silicon Valley is within the county, although some adjoining tech regions in San Mateo (e.g., Meta), Alameda, and Santa Cruz counties are also considered part of Silicon Valley.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,291.08 square miles (3,343.9 km²).

Counties which border with Santa Clara County are, clockwise, Alameda County, San Joaquin (within a few hundred feet at Mount Boardman), Stanislaus, Merced, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo County. Santa Clara County formerly shared borders with Contra Costa, San Francisco, Mariposa, Monterey, and Tuolumne counties until 1853, 1856, 1874, and 1854 respectively (Monterey County currently comes within a few miles of Santa Clara).

The San Andreas Fault runs along the Santa Cruz Mountains in the south and west of the county.

National protected area

• Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Fauna

Both tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) were historically native to Santa Clara County. In June 1776, Lieutenant Commander Don José Joaquín Moraga led a group of soldiers and colonists from the Presidio of Monterey to establish Mission San Francisco de Asis and encountered both tule elk and pronghorn, and clearly distinguished these two species from deer. The deer in California being California mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus).

Regarding elk, Moraga wrote: "In the great plain called San Bernardino (the Santa Clara Valley which stretches from south San Jose to Gilroy), while the expedition was strung out at length, we descried in the distance a herd of large animals that looked like cattle, but we could not imagine where they belonged or from whence they had come...with horns similar in shape to those of the deer, but so large that they measured sixteen palms from tip to tip." Upon measurement, Morago reported the elk horns as four varas [11 feet (3.4 m)] across... "These animals [elk] are called ciervos in order to differentiate them from the ordinary Spanish variety of deer, here called venados, which also exist in abundance and of large size in the vicinity."

Regarding pronghorn, Moraga reported: "In the said plains of San Bernardino (Santa Clara Valley)…there is another species of deer about the size of three-year-old sheep. They are similar in appearance to the deer, except they have short horns and also short legs like the sheep. They live in the plains where they go in herds of 100, 200, or more. They run all together over the plains so fast that they seem to fly…These animals are called berrendos and there are many of them also in the southern Missions wherever the country is level."

Herbert Eugene Bolton also wrote of elk reports from another Spanish expedition, from the De Anza Expedition on March 23, 1776: " In Gilroy Valley (Santa Clara Valley) Moraga 's larder was replenished by three elks which the men killed without leaving the road." General John Bidwell, of the 1841 Bartleson-Bidwell Party wrote: "In some of the fertile valleys, such as Napa and Santa Clara, there were elk literally by the thousand."

In 1978, California Department of Fish and Game warden Henry Coletto urged the department to choose the Mount Hamilton area as one of California's relocation sites under a new statewide effort to restore tule elk. While other ranchers refused, tech pioneers Bill Hewlett and David Packard allowed Coletto and state biologists to translocate the initial 32 tule elk from the Owens Valley in the eastern Sierra onto the 28,000-acre (11,000 ha) San Felipe Ranch, which the families jointly own, in the hills east of Morgan Hill. From the three original 1978–1981 translocations (totaling 65 animals) to the Mount Hamilton region of the Diablo Range, there are multiple herds in different locations including the Isabel Valley, San Antonio Valley, Livermore area, San Felipe Ranch, Metcalf Canyon, Coyote Ridge, Anderson Lake, and surrounding areas such as the Sunol and Cottonwood Creek (near San Luis Reservoir in western Merced County, California) herds. As of 2012^[update], an estimated 400 tule elk roam 1,875 square kilometres (724 sq mi) in northeastern Santa Clara County and southeastern Alameda County. In March 2014 CDFW translocated nine bull elk from the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge to add genetic diversity to the San Antonio Valley Ecological Reserve herd in San Antonio Valley in extreme eastern Santa Clara County. As of 2017 there were four herds in the Coyote Ridge area, often visible from U. S. Highway 101, according to Craige Edgerton, recently retired executive director of the Silicon Valley Land Conservancy and local naturalist Michael Hundt. In 2019, a fifth herd of tule elk was documented by local naturalist Roger Castillo, likely having split from the Coyote Ridge herd and established itself in Silver Creek Valley around the closed Ranch Golf Club. The elk herds in eastern Santa Clara County are blocked from dispersal to the west by U.S. Highway 101, with environmentalists advocating re-purposing the Metcalf Road bridge at the Coyote Gap into a wildlife overcrossing. This would enable elk to recolonize rural southwestern Santa Clara County, as well as Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties.

In 1990, the California Department of Fish and Game's Henry Coletto translocated excess pronghorn from Modoc County to six locations in California, including 51 animals to the San Felipe Ranch in Santa Clara County, where the swift-footed ungulates had not lived for generations. The animals left the San Felipe Ranch for the Isabel and San Antonio Valleys, as well as an area near Lake Del Valle in Alameda County may now be extirpated by poaching, highway vehicle collisions, and insufficient numbers to defend pronghorn fawns against coyote predation. As of 2012, the Isabel Valley Ranch herd had dwindled to 3 animals, and the Lake del Valle herd to 13. Currently, iNaturalist.org has zero observer records of pronghorn in Santa Clara County.

The Nature Conservancy "Mount Hamilton Project" has acquired or put under conservation easement 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) of land towards its 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) goal for habitat conservation within a 1,200,000 acres (490,000 ha) area encompassing much of eastern Santa Clara County as well as portions of southern Alameda County, western Merced and Stanislaus Counties, and northern San Benito County. Acquisitions to date include the 1,756-acre (711 ha) Rancho Cañada de Pala, straddling the Alameda Creek and Coyote Creek watersheds for California tiger salamander habitat; a conservation easement on the 3,259-acre Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, which abuts the north side of Joseph D. Grant County Park; a conservation easement on the 28,359-acre San Felipe Ranch, connecting Joseph D. Grant County Park with Henry W. Coe State Park; the 2,899-acre South Valley Ranch which protects a tule elk herd in the San Antonio Valley, and other properties.

As of 1980, Santa Clara County had the highest number of Superfund Sites of any county in the United States, accounting for 25 polluted locations requiring a long-term response to clean up hazardous material contaminations. As of 2019^[update], Santa Clara County has 23 active Superfund Sites, still more than any other county in the United States. The vast majority of these Superfund sites were caused by firms associated with the high tech sector in Silicon Valley.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	11,912		—
1870	26,246		120.3%
1880	35,039		33.5%
1890	48,005		37.0%
1900	60,216		25.4%
1910	83,539		38.7%
1920	100,676		20.5%
1930	145,118		44.1%
1940	174,949		20.6%
1950	290,547		66.1%
1960	642,315		121.1%
1970	1,064,714		65.8%
1980	1,295,071		21.6%
1990	1,497,577		15.6%
2000	1,682,585		12.4%
2010	1,781,642		5.9%
2020	1,936,259		8.7%
2023 (est.)	1,877,592		5.4%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010 2020

2020 census

Santa Clara County, California – Racial and ethnic composition
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2010	Pop 2020	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	626,909	555,708	35.19%	28.70%
Black or African American alone (NH)	42,331	42,148	2.38%	2.18%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	4,042	3,240	0.23%	0.17%
Asian alone (NH)	565,466	753,399	31.74%	38.91%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	6,252	5,945	0.35%	0.31%
Other race alone (NH)	3,877	10,195	0.22%	0.53%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	53,555	78,267	3.01%	4.04%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	479,210	487,357	26.90%	25.17%
Total	1,781,642	1,936,259	100.00%	100.00%

2018

Census demographics data released in 2019 show Asian Americans have had the plurality of Santa Clara's population since 2014.

2011–2014

As of 2013, Santa Clara County has the highest median household income of any county in California at $84,741.

Population, race, and income
Total population	1,762,754
White	896,937	50.9%
Black or African American	45,219	2.6%
American Indian or Alaska Native	9,906	0.6%
Asian	560,362	31.8%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander	6,445	0.4%
Some other race	171,082	9.7%
Two or more races	72,803	4.1%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	468,262	26.6%
Per capita income	$40,698
Median household income	$89,064
Median family income	$103,255

Places by population, race, and income

Places by population and race
Place	Type	Population	White	Other	Asian	Black or African American	Native American	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Alum Rock	CDP	11,814	60.5%	25.7%	11.3%	2.0%	0.5%	73.0%
Burbank	CDP	5,827	67.3%	19.2%	11.6%	1.5%	0.3%	48.5%
Cambrian Park	CDP	3,581	78.6%	9.0%	3.9%	0.3%	8.2%	16.8%
Campbell	City	39,108	68.7%	12.0%	16.9%	1.4%	0.9%	16.8%
Cupertino	City	57,459	34.6%	3.9%	60.7%	0.4%	0.4%	4.3%
East Foothills	CDP	6,983	67.3%	17.4%	13.4%	1.9%	0.1%	31.4%
Fruitdale	CDP	1,087	82.9%	1.0%	9.6%	3.2%	3.3%	7.2%
Gilroy	City	47,808	70.4%	19.3%	6.4%	2.0%	1.9%	56.0%
Lexington Hills	CDP	2,298	88.7%	3.4%	6.4%	0.4%	1.1%	2.3%
Los Altos	City	28,752	71.4%	6.2%	21.6%	0.6%	0.3%	5.9%
Los Altos Hills	Town	7,912	66.2%	1.9%	31.7%	0.1%	0.0%	1.9%
Los Gatos	Town	29,165	84.0%	4.3%	9.2%	1.6%	0.8%	5.6%
Loyola	CDP	3,747	74.0%	3.9%	20.9%	0.0%	1.2%	2.3%
Milpitas	City	66,038	21.8%	14.6%	59.0%	3.5%	1.1%	17.1%
Monte Sereno	City	3,338	80.0%	3.5%	14.3%	2.2%	0.0%	6.1%
Morgan Hill	City	37,278	69.2%	15.9%	11.5%	2.4%	1.0%	34.9%
Mountain View	City	73,394	58.8%	12.8%	25.1%	2.6%	0.8%	21.0%
Palo Alto	City	63,475	65.5%	5.5%	25.4%	3.3%	0.3%	7.6%
San Jose	City	939,688	47.6%	16.2%	32.1%	3.0%	1.0%	33.0%
San Martin	CDP	6,799	66.8%	21.0%	10.5%	0.8%	0.9%	39.3%
Santa Clara	City	114,482	46.0%	12.0%	38.2%	2.5%	1.3%	19.4%
Saratoga	City	29,781	51.8%	3.6%	44.0%	0.5%	0.1%	3.0%
Stanford	CDP	13,416	59.9%	8.3%	26.2%	4.6%	1.0%	12.2%
Sunnyvale	City	138,436	44.6%	12.3%	40.6%	1.8%	0.8%	17.8%

Places by population and income
Place	Type	Population	Per capita income	Median household income	Median family income
Alum Rock	CDP	11,814	$19,409	$62,884	$63,098
Burbank	CDP	5,827	$30,919	$51,623	$50,720
Cambrian Park	CDP	3,581	$44,782	$102,825	$110,054
Campbell	City	39,108	$44,354	$82,687	$97,703
Cupertino	City	57,459	$51,965	$124,825	$146,601
East Foothills	CDP	6,983	$41,571	$105,050	$111,250
Fruitdale	CDP	1,087	$57,675	$76,058	$100,508
Gilroy	City	47,808	$28,719	$75,483	$86,658
Lexington Hills	CDP	2,298	$74,185	$126,696	$157,632
Los Altos	City	28,752	$77,267	$151,856	$180,238
Los Altos Hills	Town	7,912	$109,694	$218,077	$230,000
Los Gatos	Town	29,165	$69,134	$122,875	$156,197
Loyola	CDP	3,747	$87,773	$190,724	$189,583
Milpitas	City	66,038	$32,465	$94,589	$100,768
Monte Sereno	City	3,338	$94,727	$181,719	$245,417
Morgan Hill	City	37,278	$39,433	$94,301	$106,659
Mountain View	City	73,394	$51,635	$91,446	$110,657
Palo Alto	City	63,475	$72,199	$122,532	$161,373
San Jose	City	939,688	$33,770	$80,764	$89,500
San Martin	CDP	6,799	$37,094	$77,188	$87,731
Santa Clara	City	114,482	$39,523	$89,004	$105,100
Saratoga	City	29,781	$71,223	$155,182	$183,776
Stanford	CDP	13,416	$31,942	$60,189	$161,818
Sunnyvale	City	138,436	$44,617	$93,292	$106,922

2010 census

The 2010 United States census reported that Santa Clara County had a population of 1,781,642. The racial makeup of Santa Clara County was 836,616 (47.0%) White, 46,428 (2.6%) African American, 12,960 (0.7%) Native American, 7,060 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 570,524 (32.0%) Asian, 220,806 (12.4%) from other races, and 87,248 (4.9%) from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 479,210 persons (26.9% of the population).

2010 Total Population 1,781,642 - 100.0% One Race 1,694,394 - 95.1% Not Hispanic or Latino 1,302,432 - 73.1% White alone 626,909 - 35.2% Black or African American alone 42,331 - 2.4% American Indian and Alaska Native alone 4,042 - 0.2% Asian alone 565,466 - 31.7% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone 6,252 - 0.4% Some other race alone 3,877 - 0.2% Two or more races alone 53,555 - 3.0% Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 479,210 - 26.9%

Demographic profile

Population reported at 2010 United States Census
The County	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Santa Clara County	1,781,642	836,616	46,428	12,960	570,524	7,060	220,806	87,248	479,210
Incorporated cities and towns	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Campbell	39,349	26,315	1,158	275	6,320	161	2,713	2,407	7,247
Cupertino	58,302	18,270	344	117	36,895	54	670	1,952	2,113
Gilroy	48,821	28,674	942	831	3,448	111	12,322	2,493	28,214
Los Altos	28,976	20,459	148	48	6,815	59	195	1,252	1,132
Los Altos Hills	7,922	5,417	37	4	2,109	8	50	297	213
Los Gatos	29,413	24,060	269	86	3,203	52	462	1,281	2,120
Milpitas	66,790	13,725	1,969	309	41,536	346	5,811	3,094	11,240
Monte Sereno	3,341	2,698	14	12	464	0	28	125	162
Morgan Hill	37,882	24,713	746	335	3,852	125	5,779	2,332	12,863
Mountain View	74,066	41,468	1,629	344	19,232	391	7,241	3,761	16,071
Palo Alto	64,403	41,359	1,197	121	17,461	142	1,426	2,697	3,974
San Jose	945,942	404,437	30,242	8,297	303,138	4,017	148,749	47,062	313,636
Santa Clara	116,468	52,359	3,154	579	43,889	651	9,624	6,212	22,589
Saratoga	29,926	16,125	94	41	12,376	23	202	1,065	1,034
Sunnyvale	140,081	60,193	2,735	662	57,320	638	12,177	6,356	26,517
Census-designated places	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
Alum Rock	15,536	6,581	207	298	2,039	70	5,466	875	10,977
Burbank	4,926	2,994	135	64	379	16	1,049	289	2,509
Cambrian Park	3,282	2,598	26	29	221	19	190	199	591
East Foothills	8,269	4,853	205	78	1,445	41	1,219	428	3,118
Fruitdale	935	633	31	11	110	4	88	58	244
Lexington Hills	2,421	2,148	10	5	90	0	59	109	193
Loyola	3,261	2,291	19	1	760	2	37	151	114
San Martin	7,027	4,329	27	71	470	18	1,752	360	3,249
Stanford	13,809	7,932	651	86	3,777	28	263	1,072	1,439
Other unincorporated areas	Total Population	White	African American	Native American	Asian	Pacific Islander	other races	two or more races	Hispanic or Latino (of any race)
All others not CDPs (combined)	30,494	21,985	439	256	3,175	84	3,234	1,321	7,651

2000

As of the census of 2000, 1,682,585 people, 565,863 households, and 395,538 families were residing in the county. The population density was 503/km² (1,300/sq mi). The 579,329 housing units had an average density of 173/km² (450/sq mi). The ethnic makeup of the county was 53.8% White, 2.8% African American, 0.7% Native American, 25.6% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 12.1% from other races, and 4.7% from two or more races. About 24.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Of the 565,863 households, 34.9% had children under 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.1% were not families. About 21.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.92, and the average family size was 3.41.

In the county, the age distribution was 24.7% under 18, 9.3% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 21.0% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% who were 65 or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.80 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 101.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $74,335, and for a family was $81,717. Males had a median income of $56,240 versus $40,574 for females. The per capita income for the county was $32,795. About 4.9% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.4% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over.

2020 religion census

Santa Clara County is among the most religiously diverse counties in the US. A 2020 census by the Public Religion Research Institute (unconnected to the official US census) calculates a religious diversity score of 0.876 for Santa Clara County, where 1 represents complete diversity (each religious group of equal size) and 0 a total lack of diversity. Only four counties in the US have higher diversity scores than Santa Clara County.

Economy

The county's economy is heavily services-based. Technology, both hardware and software, dominates the service sector by value, but like any other county, Santa Clara has its share of retail and office support workers.

The San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara metropolitan region, comprising Santa Clara County and San Benito County, was ranked as the highest performing metropolitan area in the US in 2012, ahead of Austin, Texas and Raleigh, North Carolina, according to the Milken Institute. The GDP of the metro area reached $176.7 billion in 2011, or $94,587 per capita, roughly on par with Qatar in both total GDP and per capita (nominal). GDP grew a strong 7.7% in 2011, and in contrast with most of California, GDP and per capita GDP (nominal) is well above 2007 (financial crisis) levels. Despite relative wealth vis a vis other regions nationally, a large underclass exists whose income is roughly equivalent to that elsewhere in the country, despite extreme land prices. The surge in metro GDP is highly correlated with home prices, which for average single-family homes passed $1 million ($1,017,528) in August 2013. As of the fourth quarter of 2021, the median value of homes in Santa Clara County was $1,253,400, an increase of 11.9% from the prior year, and ranking fourth in the US for highest median home value.

Education

K-12 schools

School districts include:

Unified

Secondary

Elementary

Defunct

• Montebello Elementary School District

Libraries

Santa Clara County Library is a public library system serving the communities and cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, and all unincorporated areas of the county. Other cities run their own library systems.

Transportation

Air

The county's main airport is Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (SJC). It is a U.S. Customs and Border Protection port of entry and as of 2019 has five international routes (two to Canada, one to England, one to Japan, seven to Mexico, and one to China) but the airport's busiest routes are all to cities in the western United States. San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is also often used for commercial services by residents of Santa Clara County.

Moffett Federal Airfield (NUQ), a former U.S. Naval Air Station, is used by the Air National Guard, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Google, and by the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department as an air operations base. There are also smaller general aviation airports in Palo Alto (PAO), San Jose (Reid-Hillview) (RHV), and San Martin(E16)

Rail

Santa Clara County is served by Caltrain commuter rail from Gilroy through San Jose and Silicon Valley north to San Francisco Airport and San Francisco. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority operates the VTA light rail system, which primarily serves San Jose, with one line continuing as far north as Mountain View. Santa Clara and San Jose are also served by the Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail line which provides services to Stockton, and Amtrak which provides service to Sacramento and Oakland. The Amtrak Coast Starlight train between Seattle and Los Angeles also stops in San Jose. BART currently services Milpitas and North San Jose, with plans to extend to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara.

Road

Buses

Santa Clara County has consolidated its transportation services into the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which operates a bus system.

Bicycle network

The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority is establishing a bicycle network throughout the county. Santa Clara County Bicycle network is part of the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Bikeway Network.

• Bikeways Map (Effective April 2011)
• Regional Bicycle Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area 2009 Update

Freeways and expressways

The county has an extensive freeway system and a separate expressway system (though it's not as extensive as those in Southern California). Expressways in California are distinct from freeways; although access to adjoining properties is eliminated, at-grade intersections are allowed. However, unlike expressways virtually everywhere else in California, the Santa Clara County expressways were built, signed, and maintained as county roads; they are not maintained by Caltrans, although they are patrolled by the California Highway Patrol.

There is also a large street network dominated by four- and six-lane arterials. Some of the newer boulevards (primarily in the West Valley) are divided with landscaped medians.

Major highways

County routes

Other roads

• The Alameda

Sea

The county has no commercial seaports, although small boats can access San Francisco Bay from several points. Like many other Bay Area counties, it is dependent upon the Port of Oakland for transport of ocean cargo.

Jails

Santa Clara County Department of Correction is administered by the county's sheriff's office and supervises the following facilities:

• Santa Clara County Main Jail
  • Main Jail South (up to 674 men)
  • Main Jail North (up to 919 men)
• Elmwood Correctional Facility (up to 600 women, 2,500 men)
• North County Jail (day use only for Palo Alto courthouse)
• Juvenile Detention
  • Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall (up to 390 boys and girls)
  • William F. James Boys Ranch (up to 96 teenage boys)

Parks

Santa Clara County has an extensive park system, much of it founded in the major park expansion of the late 1970s. Parks within the county include:

• Almaden Quicksilver County Park
• Grant Ranch Park
• Henry W. Coe State Park
• Sanborn Park
• Vasona Park

Open space preserves include:

• El Sereno Open Space Preserve

Santa Clara County also contains Ulistac Natural Area, a volunteer maintained natural open space. Foreign and invasive species are removed when possible as native plants are introduced. Migratory birds and butterflies often use this area.

Climate

Weather chart for Santa Clara County J F M A M J J A S O N D     30   13 4     51   15 4     46   20 6     28   24 7     1   31 12     2   37 14     1   38 15     1   37 17     4   34 14     9   28 10     63   18 7     106   13 4 temperatures in °C precipitation totals in mm Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     1.2   55 39     2   59 39     1.8   68 43     1.1   75 45     0   88 54     0.1   99 57     0   100 59     0   99 63     0.2   93 57     0.4   82 50     2.5   64 45     4.2   55 39 temperatures in °F precipitation totals in inches

Sister counties

To promote friendship and understanding and to build bridges with countries of origin for various ethnic populations in the county, the County of Santa Clara has created a Sister County Commission to coordinate the program. As of 2023, there are two sister counties:

• Metropolitan City of Florence, Italy
• Hsinchu County, Taiwan (Republic of China)

A previously established relationship with Moscow was terminated in 2022.

Communities

Cities

There are 15 incorporated places in Santa Clara County:

Towns

• Los Altos Hills
• Los Gatos

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Census county divisions

• Diablo Range
• Llagas–Uvas
• South Santa Clara Valley
• West Santa Clara

Former townships

• Almaden Township: Present-day Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park and portions of Campbell and Los Gatos.
• Alviso Township: Present-day Alviso.
• Burnett Township: Present-day Coyote, Santa Teresa and Morgan Hill.
• Fremont Township: Present-day Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and part of Cupertino.
• Gilroy Township: Present-day Gilroy and San Martin.
• Milpitas Township: Present-day Milpitas.
• Redwood Township: Present-day Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Redwood Estates and portions of Cupertino and Campbell.
• San Jose Township: Most of present-day San Jose.
• Santa Clara Township: Present-day Santa Clara and portions of San Jose, Cupertino and Campbell.

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Santa Clara County.

† county seat

Rank	City/Town/etc.	Municipal type	Population (2020 Census)
1	† San Jose	City	1,013,240
2	Sunnyvale	City	155,805
3	Santa Clara	City	127,647
4	Mountain View	City	82,376
5	Milpitas	City	80,273
6	Palo Alto	City	68,572
7	Cupertino	City	60,381
8	Gilroy	City	59,520
9	Morgan Hill	City	44,686
10	Campbell	City	43,959
11	Los Gatos	Town	33,529
12	Los Altos	City	31,625
13	Saratoga	City	31,051
14	Stanford	CDP	21,150
15	Alum Rock	CDP	12,042
16	Los Altos Hills	Town	8,489
17	San Martin	CDP	7,008
18	East Foothills	CDP	6,803
19	Burbank	CDP	4,940
20	Cambrian Park	CDP	3,719
21	Loyola	CDP	3,491
22	Monte Sereno	City	3,479
23	Lexington Hills	CDP	2,492
24	Fruitdale	CDP	989

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Santa Clara para niños