Welcome to Santa Monica ...
The coastal city of Santa Monica is located in Los Angeles County<1>.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Santa Monica, you might consider that their post office opened in 1875.
The city was incorporated November 30, 1886.
When the people of Santa Monica refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Santa Monican<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Santa Monica has a population of 90,970 people<3> (see below for details).
Santa Monica is near sea level<4>.
Time Zone: Santa Monica lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time
Telephone area codes for Santa Monica: (310) and (424)<5>
The ZIP codes for Santa Monica: 90401-90411<6>
Websites for Santa Monica ...
Official Website: www.santa-monica.org/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Santa Monica had an population of 90,970 people. This is an increase of 1.38% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 8.19% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Santa Monica had a population of 89,736 people. This makes Santa Monica the county's 19th most populous community.
The population of Santa Monica represents 0.24% of the total population of California (which has 37,253,956 people), making it the state's 80th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 89,736 people, the population of Santa Monica increased 6.72% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 84,084 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Santa Monica.
Communities Also Named Santa Monica ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Santa Monica - they are located in Florida (2) and Texas.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Santa Monica.
Communities near Santa Monica ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Santa Monica.
- Los Angeles
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Los Angeles
- Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,970,219 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Los Angeles <7>
- Glendale
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Glendale
- Glendale is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 197,747 people
- Former name for Glendale:
- Tropico
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Glendale <7>
- Torrance
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Torrance
- Torrance is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 141,553 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Torrance <7>
- Inglewood
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Inglewood
- Inglewood is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 107,203 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Inglewood <7>
- Burbank
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Burbank
- Burbank is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 101,866 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Burbank <7>
- Compton
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Compton
- Compton is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93,967 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Compton <7>
- South Gate
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Gate
- South Gate is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 93,134 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for South Gate <7>
- Carson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carson
- Carson is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 89,860 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carson <7>
- Hawthorne
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hawthorne
- Hawthorne is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 83,775 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hawthorne <7>
- Lynwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lynwood
- Lynwood is located in Los Angeles County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 68,508 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lynwood <7>
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Santa Monica. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Santa Monica.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Santa Monica. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Santa Monica.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Santa Monica. Our list includes 59 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Santa Monica.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Santa Monica ...
Looking for more information about Santa Monica? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Santa Monica, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Santa Monica.
Adding Santa Monica to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Santa Monica in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Santa Monica was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>
From that list, the Santa Monica post office opened in 1875.
We also found Santa Monica in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Santa Monica.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Santa Monica: www.santa-monica.org/
The official website for Los Angeles County: www.lacounty.info/
The official website for State of California: https://www.ca.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of California's counties, including Los Angeles, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Santa Monica refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Santa Monica may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Santa Monica. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Santa Monica - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | Area code (424) is an overlay for area code (310). |
| <6> | ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Santa Monica). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Santa Monica or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS). Our list of ZIP Codes for Santa Monica includes: 90401, 90402, 90403, 90404, 90405, 90406, 90407, 90408, 90409, 90410 & 90411. |
| <7> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <8> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |