50,508 people (2024 Census estimate, +5.9% since 2020)
1,236 square miles of land · 41 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
17 active community water systems list Santa Cruz County in the area they serve, reporting 47,801 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| NOGALES CITY OF groundwater · local government · AZ0412004 | 22,000 served |
| LIBERTY WATER RIO RICO groundwater · private · AZ0412011 | 17,960 served |
| VALLE VERDE WATER COMPANY - EAST groundwater · private · AZ0412009 | 2,397 served |
| EPCOR - TUBAC groundwater · private · AZ0412001 | 2,076 served |
| BACA FLOAT WATER COMPANY groundwater · private · AZ0412037 | 1,162 served |
| PATAGONIA WATER DEPARTMENT groundwater · local government · AZ0412006 | 819 served |
| TOWN & COUNTRY - PRESTON groundwater · private · AZ0412311 | 430 served |
| KINO RANCH 2 groundwater · local government · AZ0412015 | 173 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 127 people were held in Santa Cruz County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2019), or 447 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2014 it was about 118.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
6 school districts have their office in Santa Cruz County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $58.5 million — $52 million to run schools, about $9,135 per student, plus $6.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.5 million local (mostly property tax), $44.1 million state, $15.5 million federal.
Spent $46.2 million — $34.6 million to run schools, about $9,416 per student, plus $10.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10 million local (mostly property tax), $33.7 million state, $8.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $19 million.
Spent $65.8 million — $3.3 million to run schools, about $18,038 per student, plus $310,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $768,000 local (mostly property tax), $2 million state, $351,000 federal.
Spent $2.8 million — $2.5 million to run schools, about $16,711 per student, plus $328,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.9 million local (mostly property tax), $842,000 state, $434,000 federal.
Spent $1.6 million — $1.6 million to run schools, about $15,366 per student, plus $96,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $793,000 local (mostly property tax), $732,000 state, $275,000 federal.
Spent $2.4 million — $2.2 million to run schools, about $27,646 per student, plus $116,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $1.6 million local (mostly property tax), $349,000 state, $391,000 federal.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Santa Cruz County about $42.5 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very Low; social vulnerability: Very High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
137 bridges in Santa Cruz County: 77 in good condition, 59 fair, and 1 poor (0.7%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| Elgin road over Babocomari Creek · built 1920 | 2,473 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $28.7 million of work in Santa Cruz County in fiscal 2025, about $602 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
General election: Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Last day to register to vote: 2026-10-05. Early voting: 2026-10-07 to 2026-10-30. Last day to request a ballot by mail: 2026-10-23. Last suggested day to mail your ballot back: 2026-10-27. Election Day: 2026-11-03.
Source: Arizona Secretary of State, Sept. 4, 2026 · Arizona Secretary of State — 2025–2026 master elections calendar (PDF) · Arizona Secretary of State — election calendar
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Santa Cruz County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Santa Cruz County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Arizona: the state government and every county in Arizona.
Nearby counties: Cochise County (67 mi) · Pima County (69 mi) · Pinal County (101 mi) · Graham County (112 mi) · Hidalgo County, NM (126 mi) · Greenlee County (151 mi).