# Santa Clara, California — #2,876 of 3,144 counties

> Liberty Moving composite score 4.86 of 10. FIPS 06085. Population 1,877,592. v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values.

About 1,877,600 people live in Santa Clara, California. It ranks #2,876 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #20 of 58 in California. The combined sales tax is 9.75%, higher than in 97% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.68% of a home's value each year, less than in 56% of counties. Local government employs a smaller share of working residents than in 79% of counties. The homicide rate is lower than in 56% of counties. Life expectancy is at least 80 years, longer than in 91% of counties. Air quality is worse than in 69% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 45), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in almost every other county. On this site's state scores, California gets 4.79 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.

## Scores

| Factor | Level | Score (0–10) | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fraser Institute state ranking | state | 4.79 |  |
| 2A | state | 1.00 |  |
| Air quality | county | 5.50 |  |
| GOP + LP vote for President | county | 2.87 |  |
| Homicide rate | county | 8.80 |  |
| Sales tax | county | 1.14 |  |
| Property tax | county | 6.60 |  |
| Floods / hurricanes | county | 0.02 |  |
| Life expectancy | county | 10.00 |  |
| Government employees | county | 7.93 |  |
| Single-parent households | county | 8.17 |  |

"est" marks a derived or placeholder value with no published county figure.

## Neighbors

- #3063 Alameda, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06001.md
- #2975 Santa Cruz, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06087.md
- #2917 San Benito, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06069.md
- #2807 San Mateo, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06081.md
- #3018 Stanislaus, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06099.md
- #3089 Merced, California — https://libertymoving.org/counties/06047.md

## Links

- Page: https://libertymoving.org/counties/06085
- Compare: https://libertymoving.org/compare?a=06085
- Methodology: https://libertymoving.org/methodology
- Sources and terms: https://libertymoving.org/privacy