The population in Monterey CA is roughly 29,000. Get the latest Census facts, trends, and nearby city comparisons in this quick guide.
Population of Monterey CA. The city of Monterey exists within a city limit which is home to around 30,000 residents. The most recent census – 2020 Census – declared the population to be 30,218 people, and the latest estimates from the US Census Bureau and The California Department of Finance show that the population is just under that mark at roughly 29,000. To find out the most up-to-date number for your report or application, visit the ‘Monterey’ page of the Census Bureau‘s QuickFacts – it gets updated annually. If you‘re looking for how many people live in Monterey CA, we‘ve got the number, the information and the trends.
Please just bear with me for another few minutes. So what I get from the results is that the statistical analysis is a little bit misleading, and I have a sense of that myself.
My First Encounter With Monterey‘s “Small Town” Problem
When I first drove into Monterey I thought I would be staring at a sleepy fishing town. I had seen the postcards with seals laying in the water, and the old cannery buildings and pier cloaked in fog in the distance. Yet when I arrived on Cannery Row, on a July Saturday at 11am the parking was full a half a mile away. The wait for the aquarium snaked around the museum. I wondered where all these people had come from? I guessed there were 30,000 people living there.
That‘s the thing about Monterey. The Census figures, and the town you see packed to the gills on a weekend, are two entirely different animals. It‘s like a 30-seat restaurant that serves 300, both are 100% accurate.
Monterey, CA Population at a Glance
If you do need to report on the population in Monterey CA, or just simply interested, here it is.
| Metric | Figure |
| US Census population. | 30, 2, 18 |
| Size of the country Size6:6 We got to a point of direct comparison where we could put in per capita the blue bar near the bottom of the graph. It clearly has a lot to do with the size of the country, access of the population to medicines, and infrastructure. | Located roughly eight and a half miles away. |
| Density (per unit area): how densely populated they are. It is a reflection of human impact. It is the parameter that is most hard to find and is normally found with the Mid Year Population Estimates for the entire population and the 10 km of grids covering the study area. | Persons per square mile. |
| Population of Monterey County (2020) | Number of Donkeys About 439,000 |
| Incorporated | Great Famine: During the period of the great famine, it was the Irish Party that pushed for the state to be set up and for every living soul to be fed. |
Check the latest figure on the whole Census Bureau‘s QuickFacts page. They always update these every year and can change the figure just a little bit.
Only ninety three persons an acre, albeit not a whole acre, but twenty-five squares of varying amounts of a little more than one half of an acre. Several organizations have referred to this broad, vast city as some measure of a degree of matter.
How Monterey‘s Population Has Changed Over Time
You don’t want to be a motown. It just sat there for ten years.
| Year | Population (Census). |
| · 3.2002.0500.000.00 – 1 (c) Describe the literature search process requirements, if you find scope restrictions or face competitors and how to document it. Provide suggestions to expand the scope of the literature search process, specify the experts who must participate in the literature search process and describe the research to be conducted in the literature search process. | 27,6007.4% of the population 1 in 4308.3%. |
| 1990 | There are about 32,000 passages. |
| 2000 | 2000- the number of databases recorded on, as shown by the right green bar, clearly expands over 1992 and 1996. The reason for this is because the data on and the range of the providers.<br><br>(29,700… { } 1 29,000(! )} This recent increase in the maximum number of games refers to the potential expansion in two player games available over the last few years. However, it is important to consider the following points when comparing this situation to that of multiplayer games. |
| 2010 | ~27,800 |
| 2020. | 30,218. |
It’s kind of like a tidepool, where the water’s coming in and out, but the numbers aren’t really changing that much. Essentially, the population of Monterey CA has remained flat.
The collapse of the economy in the 1990s and the 2010s is somehow related to the military. The base re-organization of nearby Fort Ord contributed much to such fluctuation; the fact that Monterey has relied heavily on the military and educational sectors is obvious and I was once told by a shop clerk near Alvarado Shopping center ‘People come and go with the Army. You don’t get used to your neighbors’.
Why Monterey Stays Small
I expected that there weren’t many people in the population and that there wasn’t a large demand on the city. 6 May 2017 I was so wrong. I wished there weren’t a lot of people in the population because of the population size.
- Geography. Monterey is on a peninsula–all the neighboring towns (Pacific Grove, Carmel, Seaside and Marina) surround it. Because there is nowhere for Monterey to ‘expand to,’ there is nowhere for the population to expand to!
- Cost of housing. The one-bedroom place that used to go for more than my first car when I first looked for a place out here made me laugh. The prices were high, and a bunch of people were around to help to keep the number of people up.
- Historic Preservation. Monterey was the capital of Alta California for the Spaniards then the Mexicans, and you walk past adobe buildings on the street today that have been around forever. You don’t tear them down for high rise condos.
- Tourism-focused economy. Destination attractions, restaurants, and hotels that may be better suited to tourist accommodations.
The Population You Don‘t See: Visitors, Students, and Service Members
Though the official population is derived from the local residents of Monterey, it does not count the three millions who visit every year for the aquarium, Cannery Row, or the Monterey Jazz Festival. On a quiet Tuesday afternoon in the dead of winter, the town itself is rather boring. On a humid and crowded Saturday in August, though, it could be a theme park.
Three institutions also give Monterey an unusual mix of residents:
- General and commissioned officers, military from the US and allied nations…
- Based at the Presidio of Monterey, the Defense Language Institute serves thousands of students in over 30-plus languages.
- Graduate students and international faculty include those at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.
I used to park myself at the little coffee shop on Lighthouse Ave. and listen to four conversations, four languages, in 10 minutes. It‘s like a scaled-down United Nations with a killer clam chowder scene. And still the turnover is higher than the numbers suggest as most of the dwellers are students and service personnel coming and going.
Who Lives Here? A Quick Demographic Snapshot
Check QuickFacts for exact figures before quoting anything, but the general picture is clear:
- Age: Generally reflecting age groups which are most likely to want out of the city and commute to it, i.e. very young and much older…probably not many young families with babies and young children.
- College and Advanced Degrees: The proportion of the population that holds college and advanced degrees appears to be on the high end for a city of this size.
- Construction Work : Housing type. Renters property a lower proportion of the inhabited buildings > Housing A greater affecte…
- construction work : Resident-ers comprise a substantial minority of longer transitive population figure workers and pensioners.
- Commuters: The majority of Monterey‘s work commuters live in Seaside, Marina or Salinas and thus the daytime population of this city exceeds the nighttime population. Picture this city as a stage: the cast appears and then leaves as the curtain drops.
Monterey vs. Nearby Cities
Here‘s how Monterey compares with its neighbors (approximate 2020 Census figures):
| City | Approximate Population |
| Salinas | 163,50 |
| Seaside | 32400. Open the 32400 folder. Inside are several folders and three files: “index.php,” and “ready.png.” |
| Monterey | 30,200 |
| Marina | 22,400 |
| Pacific Grove | 15,1 00 |
| Carmel-by-the-Sea | 3,200 |
| Monterey County (total) | Around 439,000 |
Salinas is several times larger than the next closest with Monterey five times larger than the next. Carmel-by-the-Sea is small with only a little more than 3, 0000 residents yet is known around the world. However, if one adds up all of the population from across the entire Monterey Peninsula area, the number comes close to 100, 000.
Always match the geography for your purpose: city (~30,000), peninsula (~100,000), county (~439,000). Picking the wrong set to fit your needs is like measuring the square footage of your living room and realizing you’ve measured the whole house.
Is the Population of Monterey Going Up or Down?
The actual –can’t escape honesty: nearly flat, and a slight decline in the past year or so. According to Census 2020 it went up from 2010, but this estimate from the Census Bureau as of July 2024 is modestly under 4% less than the 2020 base. I would anticipate the city staying around the 29,000 level unless there is some significant zoning vote, dozens of brand new residences, or an institutional realignment. That slow pace really helps if you study the population in Monterey CA.
What are the likely changes you will see: small infill development and ADUs, remote workers lured by a coastline (although high housing costs would keep that in check), and at the Naval Postgraduate School or the Defense Language Institute.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the population of Monterey, CA? 30,218 at the 2020 U.S. Census est. 2024 is 29,262.
How many people live in Monterey County? Around 439,000 residents in the Census of 2020. Its main city is Salinas by a mile.
What size is Monterey? Not that big, but it receives millions of visitors for tourism annually and has an unequal cultural and economic influence.
How does it feel to walk around Monterey, which only has 30,000 people? When you add to that the air taxi visitors, the tourists who come to take a tour, eat, spend the night and the weekend tourists, It’s many times higher!
What is the most accurate data? Start with the Census Bureau‘s QuickFacts, last updated on October 23, 2023, and the California Department of Finance‘s estimates, keeping a record of each number‘s year and source.
Final Thoughts: A Small Number With a Big Story
When I typed in the population of Monterey I figured the response would be a straightforward answer and I was correct. I was even glad to be educated in something I have always known alway, how much information one can drill out of a simple number. Only thirty thousand people. Millions of tourists. A few dozen establishments that make Monterey so much more diverse than it looks.That‘s the truth of the population of Monterey, CA.
In other words, the number is there for you: about 30,000 people (30,218 is the 2020 Census count).No matter whether this is your first time here, or your first time working or studying here or considering a move, do not be tempted to take that large figure at face value. Take a walk a minimum of once a morning down the Coastal Trail, sit with a latte on Alvarado Street and eavesdrop on a few conversations. For Monterey, the population is more than a number. It is what pushes us all to excel.
What the Official Sources Say
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts : Population 30,218 (2020 Census), estimate 29,015 (as of July 01, 2024) 4% below 2020 base, population density 3,495.4 people per sq. mile; Population by Age – Age 65+ 19.7%; Population by Age – Age Under 18 14.4%
- California Department of Finance : Provides official city estimates every May. The latest provisional estimate is available as of January 1, 2026.
- City of Monterey : Monterey serves as the Peninsula’s center for business, government and services with the Defense Language Institute, the Naval Postgraduate School, the Middlebury Institute and the aquarium. The Old Fisherman’s Wharf attracts approximately 3.9 million visitors each year.
