City of Sonoma’s population growth is County’s highest

A recently released report from the Sonoma County Economic Board found that that the City of Sonoma’s population is growing at a five-year rate of 4.5%, the highest rate of growth in Sonoma County.

The city’s median age in 2017 was 51.2, about 10 years higher than the countywide average. The report also addressed unemployment, household income, home values SAT scores and more

Among the findings:

• Sonoma experienced the sixth-lowest unemployment rate among Sonoma County’s cities at 3.1% in 2017, below the rates of the county (3.4%), state (4.8%) and country (4.4%).
• In 2017, Sonoma had the third-highest median household income at $71,323. The city’s median household income was $4,540 greater than the countywide average. Five-year projections predict that Sonoma’s median household income will grow by 11.3% to $79,412 in 2022.
• Total taxable sales grew by 2.4% to $272.8 million, the sixth-highest total sales in the county. This translates as $23,922 in taxable sales per resident, about $6,000 above the county average.
• Sonoma’s 2017 median home sales price grew to $670,000, the third-highest price among Sonoma County’s cities and above the 2017 countywide median price of $535,000. Sonoma experienced a 0.2% decline in housing prices from 2016.
• The median age of residents in Sonoma is 51.2 years old, making it the highest of Sonoma County’s cities.
• Sonoma’s three-year average SAT composite scores were 1483; this is lower than the county average (1571), but higher than the state composite scores of 1472. The percentage of non-English speakers is highest in Sonoma Valley as compared with other school districts in the county.

The entire report can be accessed on the Economic Development Board website.