San Benito County (; San Benito, Spanish for "St. Benedict"), officially the County of San Benito, is a county located in the Central Coast region of California. Situated in the California Coast Ranges, the county had a population of 64,209, as of the 2020 United States census. The county seat is the city of Hollister.
While not part of the traditional nine-county definition of the San Francisco Bay Area, the U.S. Census Bureau includes San Benito County in the San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metropolitan statistical area and the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland combined statistical area. El Camino Real passes through the county and includes one mission in San Juan Bautista.
History Before the arrival of the first European settlers, the San Benito County area was inhabited by the Mutsun sub-group of the Ohlone Native Americans. In 1772 Father Juan Crespí conducted a brief expedition into the area and named a small river which he found in honor of San Benito de Nursia (Saint Benedict), the patron saint of monasticism. The county was later named after the San Benito Valley, the valley surrounding this river. Thus it was from the Spanish version of the saint's name that the county eventually took its name.
In 1797 Spanish missionaries founded the first European settlement in the county as the San Juan Bautista mission. In 1848 the United States government gained control over what would soon become the state of California, which included the area now known as San Benito county. The town of New Idria was the next town to develop in the area and was founded ca. 1857. New Idria was centered around the New Idria Mercury Mine. When the mine played out fairly recently in 1972, New Idria was abandoned, and the town is now one of California's many ghost-towns.
The town of Hollister was next founded on November 19, 1868, by William Welles Hollister on the grounds of the former Mexican land-grant Rancho San Justo. In 1874 the California legislature formed San Benito County from a section of Monterey County while naming Hollister as the new county seat. Sections of Merced and Fresno Counties were also later reassigned to San Benito County in 1887 as a result of the growth of the New Idria community. Other towns in the county which were founded early in the county's history include Tres Pinos and Paicines.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water (0.1%). San Benito County contains nearly the entire length of the -long San Benito River from the county's southwestern edge to its northwestern edge where it joins the Pajaro River.
Sharing a border with Santa Clara County, San Benito County lies adjacent to the San Francisco Bay Area and is sometimes considered a part of that region. Frequently, the county is associated with the Monterey Bay Area through governmental organizations such as the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments as well as the Pajaro River, which flows from northern San Benito County into the Monterey Bay. The United States Census Bureau includes the county in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland CSA, which the Census uses as a statistical definition of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The county also borders Merced County and Fresno County on the east, which extend into California's San Joaquin Valley. It borders Santa Cruz County on the west and Monterey County on the southwest border.
The county is also the location of the Mount Harlan and San Benito American Viticultural Areas. The latter contains the Cienega Valley, Lime Kiln Valley, and Paicines AVAs.
Flora Due to the varied topography, diverse geology, and varied climate from near-coastal to inland, San Benito County contains a high diversity of vegetation types. Common vegetation types include annual grasslands, coastal scrub, chaparral, and oak woodland.
In the county's extreme northwestern portion maritime fogs and cooler temperatures harbored coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) historically, as evidenced by a description of the 1797 construction of Mission San Juan Bautista: "Redwood saplings, of convenient length and about six inches at the butt, were used for rafters;". In addition, two historical range maps show coast redwoods ranging into northwestern San Benito County, making the county one of five inland California counties, and one of 13 total California counties, which harbored redwoods historically.
In the extreme southeastern portion of San Benito County at Panoche Valley, Panoche Hills, Tumey Hills, and Vallecitos, the climate is arid and part of the recently recognized San Joaquin Desert biome. The flora there includes saltbush scrub, San Joaquin Desert scrub, and California juniper woodland. Panoche Hills navarretia (Navarretia panochensis) is nearly endemic to this small portion of the San Joaquin Desert in San Benito County.
At the highest elevations of San Benito County at Fremont Peak and San Benito Mountain, the average annual precipitation is high enough and the average annual temperature is cool enough to support mixed conifer forest. At San Benito Mountain, the high elevation climate and extreme geology of the New Idria serpentine, supports a unique mixed-conifer forest that includes foothill pine, Coulter pine, Jeffrey pine, and incense cedar. The extreme conditions of the serpentine soils of the New Idria serpentine mass support many rare local endemic plant species including San Benito evening primrose (Camissonia benitensis), rayless layia (Layia discoidea), Guirado's goldenrod (Solidago guiradonis), and San Benito fritillary (Fritillaria viridea).
The plant species Benitoa occidentalis was named for San Benito County. Camissonia benitensis, Monardella antonina subsp. benitensis, and Arctostaphylos benitoensis were named in recognition of their being endemic or near-endemic to San Benito County. The species Hollisteria lanata was named after William Welles Hollister, namesake of the city of Hollister.
Fauna Illacme plenipes, a millipede having more legs than any other millipede species, was discovered in the county in 1926.
A California condor was found shot to death in the county on July 22, 2022, leading to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posting a $5,000 reward for information on the killer.Jess Thomson (9 Sep 2023) Reward Offered to Find Who Killed Endangered California Condor
Geology The State Gem of California, benitoite, was discovered in the county.
The New Idria Mercury Mine, closed in 1972, was once the second largest mercury mine in the country.
National protected area Pinnacles National Park
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 64,209 and a median age of 36.6 years. 25.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 13.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older, while for every 100 females there were 99.0 males and, for every 100 females age 18 and over, 97.8 males.
The racial makeup of the county was 42.4% White, 1.0% Black or African American, 2.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.8% Asian, 0.3% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 32.1% from some other race, and 17.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 61.1% of the population.
77.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 22.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 19,484 households in the county, of which 43.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 20.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 14.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 20,365 housing units, of which 4.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 67.2% were owner-occupied and 32.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 2.5%.
Racial and ethnic composition +San Benito County, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)12,79418,79324,51321,15419,78551.17%51.21%46.05%38.27%30.81%Black or African American alone (NH)591674753554790.24%0.46%0.89%0.64%0.75%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)1792102792312210.72%0.57%0.52%0.42%0.34%Asian alone (NH)4706531,1731,2982,1891.88%1.78%2.20%2.35%3.41%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census68651270.13%0.12%0.13%0.12%0.20%Other race alone (NH)737453673320.29%0.20%0.10%0.12%0.52%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census1,1579131,835xx2.17%1.65%2.86%Hispanic or Latino (any race)11,43016,80025,51631,18639,24145.71%45.78%47.93%56.43%61.11%Total25,00536,69753,23455,26964,209 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that San Benito County had a population of 55,269. The racial makeup of San Benito County was 35,181 (63.7%) White, 483 (0.9%) African American, 895 (1.6%) Native American, 1,443 (2.6%) Asian, 94 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 14,471 (26.2%) from other races, and 2,702 (4.9%) from two or more races. There were 31,186 people of Hispanic or Latino origin, of any race (56.4%).
Population reported at 2010 United States census
San Benito County55,26935,18148389514439414,4712,70231,186Incorporated citiesHollister34,92820,7613416179296310,4371,78022,965San Juan Bautista1,8621,1251258522494119907Census-designated placesAromas ‡1,29296191314320785413Ridgemark3,0162,52023141053248103623Tres Pinos47639038605712112Other unincorporated areasAll others not CDPs (combined)13,6959,42495185337233,0286036,166‡ Note: these numbers reflect only the portion of this CDP in San Benito County
2000 census As of the census of 2000, there were 53,234 people, 15,885 households, and 12,898 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 16,499 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county in 2010 was 38.3% non-Hispanic White, 0.6% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 2.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. 56.4% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 7.6% were of German, 6.3% Irish and 5.4% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 62.8% spoke only English at home, while 35.3% spoke Spanish. As of the 2010 census, San Benito County was the only county in the greater San Francisco Bay Area with a Hispanic majority.
There were 15,885 households, out of which 46.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.7% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.8% were non-families. 14.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.32 and the average family size was 3.64.
In the county 32.2% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.1% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 102.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.6 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $57,469, and the median income for a family was $60,665. Males had a median income of $44,158 versus $29,524 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,932. About 6.7% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.
Government and policing
County government is overseen by a five-member elected Board of Supervisors, who serve four-year terms of office. Other elected county leaders include:
Assessor Clerk-Auditor-Recorder District Attorney Sheriff-Coroner