Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 2020 census. Immediately north of Half Moon Bay is Pillar Point Harbor and the unincorporated community of Princeton-by-the-Sea. Half Moon Bay is known for Mavericks, a big-wave surf location. It is called Half Moon Bay because of its crescent shape.

Originally an agricultural outpost to Mission San Francisco de Asís, the town was founded in the 1840s first as San Benito, and then as its Anglo fishing community grew, it was renamed Spanishtown. In 1874, it was again renamed Half Moon Bay. After rail and road connections in the early 1900s, the town grew. The foggy weather of the coast made the town a popular destination for booze-running during Prohibition.

The city's infrastructure is heavily integrated with the coast, including the Pillar Point Harbor, major roads, and the fire department. The economy of Half Moon Bay is dominated by a few businesses, the biggest of which is the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay. Because of this geography, found that the city had over 123 buildings vulnerable to sea level rise.

History

Half Moon Bay began as a rural agricultural area, primarily used by Mission San Francisco de Asís (established in 1776) for grazing cattle, horses, and oxen. After the Mission's secularization, Tiburcio Vásquez received the Rancho Corral de Tierra Mexican land grant in 1839 and Candelario Miramontes was granted Rancho Miramontes (later known as Rancho San Benito) in 1841.

The community began to develop in the 1840s as San Mateo County's first real town. Originally, San Benito, the town was renamed Spanishtown and attracted a thriving fishing industry in addition to its continued importance to coastal agriculture. Spanishtown became a racially diverse community, settled by Canadians, Chinese, English, Germans, Irish, Mexicans, Italians, Scots, Portuguese, and Pacific Islanders. Regular stagecoach service was established with San Mateo; coaches also served Purissima, Lobitos, and San Gregorio. Levy Brothers opened a department store downtown. Spanishtown was officially renamed Half Moon Bay in 1874.

The area grew very slowly, even after the Ocean Shore Railroad began serving the community in 1907. The construction of Pedro Mountain Road in 1914 provided better access to San Francisco and probably contributed to the railroad's demise by 1920. The USS DeLong ran aground at Half Moon Bay on December 1, 1921. During Prohibition "rum runners" took advantage of dense fog and hidden coves in the area to serve several roadhouses and inns, some of which operate today as restaurants (e.g., Moss Beach Distillery). Real growth in the area came after World War II with the construction of numerous subdivisions, eventually leading to Half Moon Bay's incorporation in 1959. The city preserves a historic downtown district that has buildings dating as far back as 1869.

2008 economic downturn and subsequent recovery In 2008, financial setbacks endangered the city's viability. The economic crisis severely affected tourism, which generates the most revenue, and just when the city had finalized an $18million settlement over a property lawsuit. As the municipal budget was typically $14million or less, city fathers had issued bonds with annual payments of approximately $1 million over 25years. As a result of these obstacles, the threat of bankruptcy was very real. Dozens of meetings were held to decide where to cut the budget and finally, 75percent of municipal employees were laid off and replaced with contract workers. Employee contributions toward retirement benefits were also raised. The city council sought to regain the money paid in the settlement, believing that it should have been paid by the city's insurers. A lawsuit against the insurers was decided in 2013 and the insurer was ordered to pay the city more than $13million; the Association of Bay Area Governments partially covered the costs of the lawsuit.

As of the publication of the Fiscal Year 201516 Budget the General Fund budget was balanced and had a structural surplus of $4million.

2023 mass shootings

On January 23, 2023, mass shootings occurred in Half Moon Bay. A spree killer opened fire at two farms with a semi-automatic pistol, killing seven people and critically injuring an eighth person. A 66-year-old suspect was taken into custody after he arrived in his SUV at the parking lot of the sheriff's office substation.

2024 blocking of low-income housing In 2024, Half Moon Bay politicians were criticized by California Governor Gavin Newsom for repeatedly delaying approval of a 40-unit apartment building for senior farmworkers. Newsom threatened to take legal steps against the city if they continued stalling on the housing. Half Moon Bay Commissioner Rick Hernandez said that they were resistant to approving the senior farmworker housing because "we love the character of our small-town community" claiming that once this proposal is approved, it will trigger more requests for other constructions.

Geography

Half Moon Bay is approximately south of San Francisco, west of San Mateo, and north of Santa Cruz. Neighboring towns include El Granada, Princeton-by-the-Sea, Moss Beach, and Montara to the north and Purissima, San Gregorio, and Pescadero to the south. The city limits of Half Moon Bay run up the coast from the main part of the town to include the neighborhoods of Frenchman's Creek and Miramar Beach, with the northernmost extant overlooking Pillar Point Harbor.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.17%) is water. The town is situated on a bay of the same name. Major local industries include agriculture (houseplants, floriculture, Christmas trees, pumpkins, artichokes), fishing, and tourism. Historically, Half Moon Bay had been known as San Benito and Spanishtown. A 2022 study of the effects of sea level rise, found that both major tourism attractions, and other infrastructure would be under threat from projected Sea level rise caused by global warming. The study found at least 123 buildings, including the Ritz Carlton (a major employer for the town), Pigeon Point Lighthouse and the Pescadero Cal Fire Station would be seriously threatened by erosion if sea level were to rise by .

Streams in Half Moon Bay include Frenchmans, Pilarcitos and Naples Creeks.

Climate Half Moon Bay usually has mild weather throughout the year. Under the Köppen climate classification, it has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb). Hot weather is rare; the average annual days with highs of or higher is only 0.4days. Cold weather is also rare with an annual average of 2.5days with lows of or lower. Typical of Northern California, most of the rain falls from November to April. The normal annual precipitation is . Snowfall along the coast in Half Moon Bay has never been measurable; however, snow flurries were observed on December 12, 1972, February 5, 1976, and February 23, 2023. There is often fog and overcast during the night and morning hours, usually clearing offshore during the afternoon. Persistent sea breezes help to moderate the climate along the coast; farther from the ocean, in places such as Pilarcitos Creek, days are often warmer and nights cooler than on the coast. For the 37th parallel north, the mild summer temperatures of Half Moon Bay are unmatched across the board. Relatively nearby inland cities see significantly warmer temperatures at the same time. Despite the low latitude and strong maritime influence, nights remain very cool, even in the summer.

January is the coolest month with an average high of and an average low of . September is the warmest month with an average high of and an average low of .

The most rainfall recorded in Half Moon Bay in one month was in February 1998. The heaviest 24-hour rainfall was on January 4, 1982. There are an average of 86days with measurable rainfall.

Demographics

Racial and ethnic composition +Half Moon Bay city, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)7,8826,9776,94866.56%61.61%58.91%Black or African American alone (NH)44865783.78%0.57%0.66%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)2820150.24%0.18%0.13%Asian alone (NH)3914726993.30%4.17%5.93%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)148150.12%0.07%0.13%Other race alone (NH)2110420.18%0.09%0.36%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)3072094942.59%1.85%4.19%Hispanic or Latino (any race)2,7513,5633,50423.23%31.46%29.71%Total11,84211,32411,795 100.00%100.00%100.00%

2020 census As of the 2020 census, Half Moon Bay had a population of 11,795. The population density was . The median age was 47.6 years. The age distribution was 18.8% under the age of 18, 6.7% aged 18 to 24, 21.3% aged 25 to 44, 29.3% aged 45 to 64, and 23.9% aged 65 or older. For every 100 females, there were 90.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males age 18 and over.

The census reported that 99.5% of the population lived in households, 58 people (0.5%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 4,569 households, out of which 26.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.9% were married-couple households, 4.3% were cohabiting-couple households, 27.4% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, and 14.4% had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. About 27.6% of households were one person households, and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57, and 3,040 families (66.5% of all households) were recorded.

There were 4,833 housing units at an average density of , of which 94.5% were occupied. Of occupied units, 68.7% were owner-occupied and 31.3% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%, the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%, and 5.5% of housing units were vacant.

97.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 2.7% lived in rural areas.

+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Race Number Percent White 7,371 62.5% Black or African American 81 0.7% American Indian and Alaska Native 92 0.8% Asian 726 6.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 16 0.1% Some other race 1,662 14.1% Two or more races 1,847 15.7%

2023 ACS estimates In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 20.8% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 67.4% spoke only English at home, 26.0% spoke Spanish, 3.8% spoke other Indo-European languages, 2.3% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.4% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 91.3% were high school graduates and 53.2% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income in 2023 was $153,199, and the per capita income was $81,034. About 2.3% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010 census 2010 United States census reported that Half Moon Bay had a population of 11,324. The population density was . The racial makeup of Half Moon Bay was 8,580 (75.8%) White, 82 (0.7%) African American, 71 (0.6%) Native American, 490 (4.3%) Asian, 9 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 1,710 (15.1%) from other races, and 382 (3.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,563 persons (31.5%).

The Census reported that 11,306 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 18 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.