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Welcome to
Santa Clara County
New Santa Clara County Website arriving soon!
 Santa
Clara County is a county located in the San Francisco
Bay Area of the state of California. It's the primary
location of the Silicon Valley with a population of more
than 1,700,000 people and many well known high-tech firms
are located in Santa Clara County, such as Google. The
county seat is San Jose, CA.
Santa Clara County is the largest county
in the San Francisco Bay Area. The northwest portion of
the county, known as Silicon Valley, is the home to many
leading computer and electronics companies. The county
thrived in the late 1990s when technology was booming,
but since the dotcom bust of 2000 the county has been
slow to recover. Santa Clara County
has a population of 1.76 million people and more than
840,000
wage and salary jobs. The per capita income in the county
is
$46,556, and the average salary per worker is the highest
in the
state at $77,560. The median family income is also highest
in
the state at $105,500.
Employment growth in the composite Northern
California
area was weak in 2004, due primarily to the sluggish Bay
Area
economies. In fact, employment in the Bay Area declined
by
1 percent last year. In 2004 almost 15,000 more jobs were
lost
in Santa Clara County, representing the fourth straight
year of
job losses in the county. Non-farm employment declined
by 1.7
percent last year. However the unemployment rate fell
to 6.6
percent in 2004.
Few sectors created jobs in Santa Clara
County in 2004.
In fact, only education and healthcare services, financial
activities,
leisure services, and wholesale trade created jobs last
year.
Manufacturing and professional services experienced the
largest
declines in employment. Each sector lost over 4,000 jobs
last
year.
The population continues to grow in Santa
Clara County,
and the growth rate has risen to 1 percent per year. The
fastest
growing cities in the county are Gilroy and Morgan Hill,
which
grew 3.4 and 2.2 percent, respectively. The largest city
in the
county, San Jose, grew 0.7 percent last year.
Employment growth will remain slow in Santa Clara
County through 2006. In 2007 and beyond the county will
return
to healthier levels of job creation and population growth.
Forecast Highlights
• Virtually no job growth is expected in Santa Clara County
in 2005. In 2006 jobs are forecast to be created for the
first
time since 2000. Over the next five years, the annual
growth
rate is expected to average 1.9 percent per year.
• Average salaries adjusted for inflation are currently
well
above the California state average, and will remain so
over
the foreseeable future. Real average salaries are forecast
to rise an average of 1.8 percent per year over the next
5
years.
• Over the next five years, the momentum for employment
growth is in professional services. This sector alone
will
account for 57 percent of all jobs created in the county
over
the next five years.
• The population will continue to grow at a rate of 1
percent in
2005. Annual growth in the 2005 to 2010 period is forecast
to increase slightly to an average of 1.1 percent per
year.
• Net migration is expected to remain negative in 2005.
Over the next five years net migration is expected to
turn
positive, with an average of 2,300 net migrants entering
the
county per year.
• Real per capita incomes increase at a rate of 2.7 percent
in
2005. Over the next five years real per capita incomes
are
forecast to increase 2.6 percent per year.
• Industrial production is expected to increase a scant
0.4
percent in 2005. Over the next five years the growth rate
of industrial production is forecast
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