Aromas, California.
Typical home $949,948 (+2.8% in a year). Salinas, CA metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$2,191 (+78%) since Jan 2020.
- 1 year
- Up $25,754 +3%
- $924,194$949,948 since Sep 2025
- 5 years
- Up $2,007 +0%
- $947,941$949,948 since Sep 2021
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Aromas$4,986
- California$3,997
- United States$1,922
Typical home values in Aromas, CA rose 2.8% over the past year — faster than the nation's +1.2%.
Living in Aromas, Monterey County, California
Aromas, in Monterey County, had 2,708 people in the 2020 census. Unemployment in Monterey County was 5.7% in August 2026, and the county had 0.9% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most residents work in transport and warehouses, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 24 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Aromas is a small community in Monterey County, close to the border with San Benito County and the Pajaro River. Very few households here live below the poverty line, and typical home values run high. Winters are cool and mild, with the coldest days in December, while summers stay comfortably warm, with September the warmest month. Snow is rare, and rain falls at a moderate rate over the year.
Work. Many residents work in transport, warehouses and utilities, in manufacturing, in the building trades, and in schools, hospitals and social care. Across Monterey County, the largest workplaces include farm labor contractors such as Premier Packing of California, the fruit and vegetable packer Taylor Fresh Foods, and Community Hosp. Monterey Peninsula. Unemployment across the county is a little higher than the national picture usually suggests, and the county has fewer jobs than it did a year earlier.
Things to do. Close by, Mission San Juan Bautista and San Juan Bautista State Historic Park are a short drive away and offer a look at the region's early history. Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, also a short drive away, is a protected area for walking and watching wildlife. For a longer outing, Monterey Bay Aquarium is a longer drive away.
Report a mistake
- 3%below the poverty line
What residents work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Monterey County had 198,525 jobs in 2025, 0.9% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in December, with highs near 62° and lows near 39°; warmest in September, with highs near 74° and lows near 53°. About 23 inches of rain a year, and little or no snow.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Watsonville Wtr Wks weather station, 9 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Monterey County
- Foothill PackingAgriculture production or harvesting crews3,128
- Premier Packing of CaliforniaFarm labor contractors2,754
- PRO AG HarvestingFarm labor contractors2,687
- Taylor Fresh FoodsPacking fruits and vegetables2,619
- Community Hosp. Monterey PeninsulaGeneral hospital2,046FTE
- Dominguez FarmsFarm labor contractors2,042
- Camarillo Harvesting, LLC SalinasStrawberry farming2,000
- Tanimura & AntleVegetable and potato farming, vegetable dominant crops, field, bedding plants and seed production1,889
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 371 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 79,481 people in all across the county; Aromas has none of its own. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- EarthquakesVery high
- Inland floodingVery high
- DroughtRelatively high
- LandslidesRelatively high
- WildfireRelatively high
- Heat wavesRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Aromas’ census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, very high. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Monterey County and the Salinas, CA metro.
Aromas home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
- Aromas$949,948
- California$761,538
- United States$366,157
When this market ran hot
Each cell is that month's year-on-year home-value growth. Read left to right, top row is the latest year — the 2021–22 band is the boom.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
New listings per month
Sellers arriving at the market.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Zip codes with a Aromas address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Aromas — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.