Monterey County, California

Monterey County, California
County
County of Monterey
Images, from top down, left to right: Monterey Bay Aquarium, Main Street in Salinas, the seventh hole at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Mission Soledad, Big Sur Coastline
Flag Seal
Interactive map of Monterey County
Location in the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
Incorporated	February 18, 1850[1]
Named for	Monterey Bay
County seat	Salinas
Largest city	Salinas
Government
• Type	Council–CAO
• Body	Board of Supervisors
• Chair	Luis Alejo
• Vice Chair	Glenn Church
• Board of Supervisors[2]	Supervisors Luis Alejo Glenn Church Chris Lopez Wendy Root Askew Mary L. Adams
• County Administrative Office	Sonia M. De La Rosa
Area
• Total	3,771 sq mi (9,770 km2)
• Land	3,281 sq mi (8,500 km2)
• Water	491 sq mi (1,270 km2)
Highest elevation [3]	5,865 ft (1,788 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	439,035
• Density	134/sq mi (52/km2)
GDP [4]
• Total	$33.249 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC-8 (Pacific Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Area codes	805, 831
Congressional districts	18th, 19th
Website	countyofmonterey.gov

Monterey County (/ˌmɒntəˈreɪ/ ^ⓘ MON-tə-RAY), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, its population was 439,035.^[5] The county's largest city and county seat is Salinas.^[6]

Monterey County comprises the Salinas, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. It borders on the southern part of Monterey Bay, after which it is named. (The northern half of the bay is in Santa Cruz County.) Monterey County is a member of the regional governmental agency: the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.

Scenic features along the coastline - including Carmel-by-the-Sea, Big Sur, State Route 1, and the 17 Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula - have made the county famous around the world. Back when California was under Spanish and Mexican rule, the city of Monterey was its capital. Today, the economy of the county is mostly based on tourism in its coastal regions, and on agriculture in the region of the Salinas River valley. Most of the county's inhabitants live near the northern coast or in Salinas Valley; the southern coast and inland mountainous regions are sparsely populated.