Santa Cruz County is located on the Pacific coast in California, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. The county forms the northern coast of the Monterey Bay. The county seat is Santa Cruz . The county has a total area of 607 mi², 73% of it is land and 27% of it is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 255,602 people, 91,139 households, and 57,144 families residing in the county. The population density was 574/mi². The median income for a household in the county was $53,998, and the median income for a family was $61,941.