Mendocino County vs San Benito County

A side-by-side comparison of Mendocino County and San Benito County: population, income, housing, and more.

Mendocino County and San Benito County are counties in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Mendocino County has the higher population (90,709 vs 66,056 in San Benito County). San Benito County has the higher median household income ($108,289 vs $64,688 in Mendocino County). San Benito County has the higher median home value ($751,500 vs $486,000 in Mendocino County).

Population, income & housing

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
Population	90,709	66,056
Median age	43.9 yrs	35.9 yrs
Median household income	$64,688	$108,289
Median home value	$486,000	$751,500
Median gross rent	$1,325	$1,922
Housing units	41,495	20,937
Homeownership rate	60.9%	67.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.9%	22.4%
Unemployment rate	9.3%	6.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
Population	87,224 → 90,709 (+4.0%)	60,376 → 66,056 (+9.4%)
Median household income	$51,416 → $64,688 (+25.8%)	$86,958 → $108,289 (+24.5%)
Median home value	$377,500 → $486,000 (+28.7%)	$551,500 → $751,500 (+36.3%)
Median gross rent	$1,146 → $1,325 (+15.6%)	$1,535 → $1,922 (+25.2%)

Mendocino County

Population

87,22490,709

Median household income

$51,416$64,688

Median home value

$377,500$486,000

Median gross rent

$1,146$1,325

San Benito County

Population

60,37666,056

Median household income

$86,958$108,289

Median home value

$551,500$751,500

Median gross rent

$1,535$1,922

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
Under 5	5.4%	6.4%
5 to 17	15.7%	19.1%
18 to 24	7.0%	8.8%
25 to 34	10.8%	14.0%
35 to 44	12.2%	14.1%
45 to 54	11.5%	12.3%
55 to 64	13.3%	11.9%
65 to 74	15.0%	8.2%
75 and over	9.0%	5.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
White (non-Hispanic)	62.1%	30.3%
Black or African American	0.8%	0.9%
American Indian & Alaska Native	2.7%	0.3%
Asian	2.2%	3.2%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.2%
Some other race	0.7%	0.1%
Two or more races	4.4%	3.4%
Hispanic or Latino	26.9%	61.7%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
No high school diploma	13.8%	16.8%
High school graduate	26.1%	26.3%
Some college or associate's	35.1%	34.5%
Bachelor's degree	15.1%	16.1%
Graduate or professional degree	9.8%	6.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
Drove alone	71.5%	74.5%
Carpooled	9.1%	11.9%
Public transit	0.4%	0.9%
Walked	6.5%	0.7%
Bicycle	0.3%	0.4%
Worked from home	11.7%	10.3%
Other means	0.6%	1.3%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
1-unit, detached	73.2%	80.9%
1-unit, attached	2.5%	5.1%
2 to 4 units	6.1%	5.5%
5 to 19 units	4.7%	3.5%
20 or more units	3.0%	1.2%
Mobile home & other	10.4%	3.7%

Poverty & households

	Mendocino County	San Benito County
Poverty rate	15.2%	7.8%
Average household size	2.56	3.25
Mean commute (minutes)	22	36
Median year structure built	1977	1988