Aromas is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County and San Benito County, California, United States. The population was 2,708 at the 2020 census. and 1,343 in San Benito County. Aromas is one of four CDPs in California that are divided between two or more counties. The others are Kingvale (divided between Placer County and Nevada County), Kirkwood (divided between Alpine County and Amador County), and Tahoma (divided between Placer County and El Dorado County).

History

The settlement was originally known as "Sand Cut", named from the Southern Pacific Railroad tunnel constructed nearby in 1871. The settlement was renamed Aromas, after Rancho Las Aromitas y Agua Caliente, around 1895.

Geography

Aromas is located in northern Monterey County and northwestern San Benito County at (36.886988, -121.641396). Is it bordered to the south by Prunedale. U.S. Route 101 runs along the southeastern edge of the community, leading north to Gilroy and south to Salinas.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the Aromas CDP has a total area of . of it are land and , or 0.22%, are water.<br>1850–1870 1880-1890<br> 1900 1910 1920<br> 1930 1940 1950<br> 1960 1970 1980<br> 1990

2000 2010

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Aromas first appeared as a census-designated place in the 1990 United States census.

The census reported that 100% of the population lived in households. There were 910 households, out of which 30.2% included children under the age of 18, 61.2% were married-couple households, 5.9% were cohabiting couple households, 19.2% had a female householder with no partner present, and 13.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 17.4% of households were one person, and 11.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.98. There were 693 families (76.2% of all households).

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 954 housing units at an average density of , of which 910 (95.4%) were occupied. Of these, 79.8% were owner-occupied and 20.2% were occupied by renters. 4.6% of housing units were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%.

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|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census Anzar High School, which opened in 1994, was named after early area pioneers. Anzar's current principal is Angela Crawley, and the school's total enrollment amounts to 258 students.

Economy

Aromas is home to a Graniterock quarry, with the A.R. Wilson quarry owned and operated by the Watsonville-based company.

Since 1986, Fireclay Tile has been manufacturing architectural tile in Aromas.

Notes

References

  • U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. U.S. Census website. Retrieved 2013-10-21.
  • The Town of Aromas
  • Aromas at Explore Monterey County
  • Aromas-San Juan Unified School District
  • Aromas Water District
  • Short radio episode of Ygnacio Villegas's writing about "Las Aromas Rancho" from California Legacy Project.