Salinas, California
Salinas, California | |
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Top: Monterey County Court House; downtown; middle: historic Monterey County Jail building; bottom: Taylor Farms headquarters; downtown. | |
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Seal | |
| Nickname: "The Salad Bowl of the World" | |
| Motto: "Rich in Land, Rich in Values." | |
Location of Salinas, California | |
Salinas Location in California Salinas Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 36°40′40″N 121°39′20″W / 36.67778°N 121.65556°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Region | Northern California |
| County | Monterey |
| Incorporated | March 4, 1874 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Council-Manager |
| • Mayor | Dennis Donohue |
| • State senator | John Laird (D) |
| • Assemblymember | Robert Rivas (D) |
| • U. S. rep. | Zoe Lofgren (D) |
| Area | |
• City | 23.55 sq mi (60.99 km2) |
| • Land | 23.51 sq mi (60.90 km2) |
| • Water | 0.031 sq mi (0.08 km2) 0.14% |
| Elevation | 52 ft (16 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• City | 163,542 |
| • Rank | 1st in Monterey County 35th in California 163rd in the United States |
| • Density | 6,955/sq mi (2,685/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 93901–93903, 93905–93908, 93912, and 93915 |
| Area code | 831 |
| FIPS code | 06-64224 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 277589, 2411768 |
| Website | www |
Salinas (/səˈliːnəs/; Spanish for "Salt Flats") is a city in and the county seat of Monterey County, California, United States. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area located along the eastern limits of the Monterey Bay Area, lying just south of the San Francisco Bay Area and 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River. The city is located at the mouth of the Salinas Valley, about eight miles (13 km) from the Pacific Ocean, and it has a climate more influenced by the ocean than the interior.
Salinas serves as the main business, governmental, and industrial center of the region. The marine climate is ideal for the floral industry, grape vineyards, and vegetable growers. Salinas is known as the "Salad Bowl of the World" for its large, vibrant agriculture industry.
It was the hometown of writer and Nobel laureate John Steinbeck (1902–68), who set many of his stories in the Salinas Valley and Monterey. Salinas has a high Hispanic proportion, which at 79.6%, is the highest proportion of Hispanic Americans out of any city in California, and 8th largest overall in the nation. The city also has a sizable Asian-American population, with a large and historic Filipino population. The city once also had the 2nd biggest Chinatown in the nation behind only San Francisco.