Santa Cruz sits roughly in the middle of the pack for this role within California — neither a standout nor a laggard. That's close to the national average for computer hardware engineers — a fairly typical rate for this role. Cost of living here is close to the national average — not a major factor either way. This is a reasonably reliable estimate, though the underlying sample is moderate in size.
Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Santa Cruz ranks #10 for cost of living and #2 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.
Single filer, federal + California state tax + FICA, 2025 rates. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional for your specific situation.
These notes add local color around Santa Cruz, California: comfort ranges, budget constraints and location trade-offs reported in public discussions.
Discussion highlights that calculators may imply roughly 2x gross income for comparable standard of living, while some employers offer only about 10% location premiums. Tech total compensation can be an exception, so the page should distinguish salary from total compensation.
Anecdotal public-discussion signals, not official salary data, rent data or financial advice. Read this alongside the official figures on the page.
Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.
The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.
Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.
