Census-designated place · San Benito County, California

Aromas, California

Aromas is a census-designated place in San Benito County, California, part of the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA metro area. It has 3,245 residents. Aromas, California has a quality-of-life score of 52 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #7,561 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within California it ranks #390 of 1,062 cities and towns. It ranks best on drought exposure (low), rent-burdened households (low) and job growth (high). It ranks worst on students per teacher (high), social associations (low) and high school diploma or higher (low).

52Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #7,561 of 15,651 cities and towns
California: #390 of 1,062 in CA
Population: 3,245 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 685.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 0602812

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety63#5,845/15,637
Economy90#1,533/15,631
Housing47#8,012/14,977
Health84#2,436/15,609
Healthcare25#11,790/15,650
Environment90#1,580/15,453
Education17#13,016/15,649
Infrastructure45#8,676/15,650
Community30#11,016/15,651
Leisure & amenities13#13,572/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Aromas, California ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “San Benito County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Drought exposure · low0%
98/100California 9%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAASan Benito County value
Rent-burdened households · low4.0%
98/100California 55.3%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070High uncertainty
Job growth · high4.7%
97/100California 0.9%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataSan Benito County value
Comfortable days · high38.4%
96/100California 34.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationSan Benito County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · low5.7 µg/m³
93/100California 9.4 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencySan Benito County value
Property crime rate · low444 /100k
92/100California 1,792 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSan Benito County value

Weaknesses

Students per teacher · high22.9×
1/100California 21.7×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsSan Benito County value
Social associations · low3.7 /10k
3/100California 6.2 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSan Benito County value
High school diploma or higher · low87.4%
5/100California 84.7%United States 89.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Home price to income ratio · high5.8×
7/100California 7.4×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077
Distance to an emergency room · high15.6 mi
7/100California 4.3 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesSan Benito County value
Natural hazard risk · high92.9
7/100California 87.32025Federal Emergency Management AgencySan Benito County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
2,479 (2015-2019) → 3,245 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
38.9% (2015-2019) → 4.0% (2020-2024)
−35 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
30.4% (2015-2019) → 42.4% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Median household incomeImproving
$109,413 (2015-2019) → $148,438 (2020-2024)
+36%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Average commute timeImproving
35.0 min (2015-2019) → 26.0 min (2020-2024)
−26%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
High school diploma or higherWorsening
91.6% (2015-2019) → 87.4% (2020-2024)
−4.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Aromas, California improved on 0 of 8 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 8 measures

Change of every measure of Aromas, California between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	35.0 min2015-2019	26.0 min2020-2024	−9.0 min	Within the margin of error	98%
Bachelor's degree or higher	30.4%2015-2019	42.4%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	94%
Broadband subscriptions	92.0%2015-2019	90.1%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Effective property tax rate	0.74%2015-2019	0.63%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	39%
High school diploma or higher	91.6%2015-2019	87.4%2020-2024	−4.2 points	Within the margin of error	7%
Home price to income ratio	5.9×2015-2019	5.8×2020-2024	−0.0×	Within the margin of error	81%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3932015-2019	0.3482020-2024	−0.045	Within the margin of error	82%
Median household income	$109,4132015-2019	$148,4382020-2024	+36%	Within the margin of error	66%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Aromas, California five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Aromas, California in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Aromas, California itself moved +0.1 points in standing on average over the same 8 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

3,245 residents (±959)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 60–69 men (−4.6 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

3,245 residents (±959)

Aromas, California
California share

White50%†1,630
Black0.4%†12
Hispanic or Latino43%†

Education

2,376 residents (±598)

Aromas, California
California share

No high school diploma13%†299
High school or GED18%†426
Some college12%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

1,113 households (±291)

Aromas, California
California share

Under $25k2.9%†32
$25k–50k6.9%†77
$50k–75k11%†124
$75k–100k10%†116
$100k–150k19%†215
$150k–200k16%†178
$200k or more33%†371

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $200k or more (+17.8 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

1,113 households (±291)

Aromas, California
California share

Own73%816
Rent27%†297

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

297 households (±188)

Aromas, California
California share

Under $7500.0%0
$750–1,0000.0%0
$1,000–1,5004.0%†12

Home values

816 homes (±188)

Aromas, California
California share

Under $150k2.3%†19
$150k–250k3.1%†25
$250k–400k4.9%†40

Age of homes

1,155 homes (±295)

Aromas, California
California share

2010 or later1.1%†13
2000–20095.6%†65
1980–199934%†397

Size of homes

1,155 homes (±295)

Aromas, California
California share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom3.2%†37
2 bedrooms17%†196

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

1,655 workers (±659)

Aromas, California
California share

Drive alone73%†1,209
Carpool0.0%0
Public transit0.0%0
Walk3.3%†55
Bike0.0%0
Work from home21%†344
Other2.8%†47

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+16.5 points).

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

1,311 workers (±654)

Aromas, California
California share

Under 15 min27%†353
15–29 min38%†502
30–44 min9.8%†128

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of San Benito County, the county holding most of Aromas's residents.

San Benito County has 1,168 employer establishments, 171 for every 10,000 residents (0.69× the US rate of 248; 0.65× California's), with 14,222 paid employees at an average annual pay of $56,166. The Census Bureau also counts 4,712 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,168; 4,712 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 171; US 248 · California 263
Paid employees: 14,222
Average annual pay: $56,166; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of San Benito County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Specialty trade contractors	163	23.9	1.54×More than typical	1,307	$72,255	311
Restaurants and other eating places	99	14.5	0.79×Fewer than typical	1,552	$25,516	20
Ambulatory health care services	69	10.1	0.48×Fewer than typical	510	$69,180	163
Building equipment contractors	60	8.8	1.46×More than typical	514	$78,383	88
Construction of buildings	59	8.6	1.14×About typical	244	$66,549	182
Lessors of real estate	51	7.5	0.61×Fewer than typical	99	$48,667	390
Building finishing contractors	47	6.9	1.81×More than typical	430	$60,451	99
Services to buildings and dwellings	41	6	0.89×About typical	262	$45,252	342
Full-service restaurants	40	5.9	0.76×Fewer than typical	540	$26,169	6
Foundation, structure and building exterior contractors	38	5.6	1.77×More than typical	205	$63,790	40
Limited-service restaurants	38	5.6	0.69×Fewer than typical	732	$26,340	6
Truck transportation	37	5.4	1.07×About typical	173	$52,815	70

Rank places for an industry Open San Benito County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 68,267 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Aromas, California: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

-535.3FY2017

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Aromas, California, so they do not add up across cities.

Aromas, California's figures are part of those of San Benito County, CA and Monterey County, CA ($654.7M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Aromas is mostly in San Benito County.

See federal money in San Benito County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Aromas, California is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).