| Santa Cruz | 63,310 |
| Watsonville | 52,915 |
| Live Oak | 17,749 |
| Scotts Valley | 11,824 |
| Soquel | 10,912 |
| Capitola | 10,109 |
| Rio del Mar | 9,731 |
| Interlaken | 6,738 |
| Ben Lomond | 6,573 |
| Pleasure Point | 6,155 |
| Aptos | 5,842 |
| Twin Lakes | 5,378 |
| Boulder Creek | 4,442 |
| Day Valley | 3,739 |
| Felton | 3,582 |
| Seacliff | 3,364 |
| Amesti | 3,205 |
| Bonny Doon | 3,117 |
| Freedom | 2,774 |
| La Selva Beach | 2,633 |
| Corralitos | 2,557 |
| Brookdale | 2,446 |
| Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley | 2,288 |
| Pasatiempo | 1,288 |
| Mount Hermon | 993 |
| Zayante | 941 |
| Lompico | 902 |
| Paradise Park | 530 |
| Davenport | 310 |
| Pajaro Dunes | 211 |
| 1st District | Manu Koenig |
| 2nd District | Zach Friend |
| 3rd District | Ryan Coonerty |
| 4th District | Greg Caput |
| 5th District | Bruce McPherson |
| Area 1 | Cindy Ranii |
| Area 2 | Jeremy Shonick |
| Area 3 | Sheila Coonerty |
| Area 4 | John Owen, Vice-President |
| Area 5 | Deborah Tracy-Proulx, President |
| Area 6 | Claudia Vestal |
| Area 7 | Patricia Threet |
Santa Cruz County was a Republican stronghold for most of the 19th and 20th centuries; from 1860 through 1980 the only Democrats to carry Santa Cruz were Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964, and Jimmy Carter in 1976. However, the opening of UCSC in 1965 caused the county's political landscape to dramatically change.
Today, it is a strongly Democratic county in presidential and congressional elections. The last Republican to carry the county was Ronald Reagan in 1980, and the last Republican to win a majority in the county was Richard Nixon in 1968.
The last Republican to represent a significant portion of Santa Cruz in Congress was Burt L. Talcott, who was defeated in 1976 by Leon Panetta. Santa Cruz County is split between California's 18th and 20th congressional districts, represented by Anna Eshoo (D–Atherton) and Jimmy Panetta (D–Carmel Valley), respectively.
In the State Assembly, Santa Cruz County is split between the 29th and 30th Assembly districts, represented by Democrat Mark Stone and Democrat Robert Rivas, respectively. In the State Senate, Santa Cruz County is entirely within the 17th Senate District, represented by Democrat John Laird.
