History

County formed: Feb. 18, 1850

County seat: Napa

Napa is a general law county

Demographics

Total area: 504,450 acres (788.2 square miles)

Cities and towns:          5  

Land use    Farmland          15.7%

                    Grazing             35.6%

                    Urban/built up   4.2%

                    Water/other    44.5%

Population (total and by jurisdiction, est. Jan. 1, 2007)

Total Population:                    135,969

City of Napa                             76,997 (57%)

City of American Canyon          16,031 (13%)

City of St. Helena                       5,993  (4%)

City of Calistoga                         5,302  (4%)

Town of Yountville                     3,290  (2%)

Unincorporated                        28,356  (20%)

(Source: CA Dept. of Finance)

Napa County ranks 34th in population out of California’s 58 counties

Male:                            50.15%

Female:                        49.85%

Median Age       38.3 years

(2004 Source: CA Dept of Finance)

Ethnicity

Caucasian or white       64.0%

Hispanic or Latino        27.0%

Asian                              4.0%

Black                             2.0%

Other                             3.0%

Economics

Median household income, 2005 (Source: CA Economic Development Partnership)):        $65,260

Owner-occupied residences (Source: US Census Bureau):     65.1%

Median home price (June 2007)[1]:          $627,500        

Bay Area median:                                 $660,000        

Total assessed valuation (2008-2009): $27,120,668,713

Agriculture

Value of agricultural production, 2008: $409,275,500

Top five crops, by value, 2005:

Fruit and nuts          $400,606,400

Nursery crops          $    3,347,700

Livestock                  $    3,512,200

Poultry and animal    $    1,114,600

Field crops                $       361,200

Employment and Labor

Labor force:                             54.4% of county population

Unemployment rate (Source: CA Economic Development Partnership)

2005 seasonally adjusted:         4.2%

Work force: 69,678

Employment mix:

Agriculture                                              6.6%

Construction                                           6.0%

Education                                               7.4%

Finance                                                  3.7%

Government                                            8.4%

Health care and social assistance             8.2%

Information                                             1.1%

Leisure/Tourism                                    11.3%

Manufacturing                                       14.4%

Mining                                                    0.1%

Retail                                                     8.6%

Services                                                 7.5%

Trade, Transportation, Utilities  12.3%

Wholesale                                              1.9%

Other                                                    2.4% 

Grape and Wine Industry

Napa is one of California’s smaller counties, with an area of 500,000 acres and only about 0.4% of California’s labor force and personal income. Yet it has earned a worldwide reputation for quality.

Fine wine and fine wine grapes are overwhelmingly the source of Napa’s prosperity and prominence. Napa’s unique terrain and climate and its high standards of viticulture and winemaking ensure premium pricing for its grapes and wine.

Napa produces only 4% of California’s wine by volume. But, as the largest producer of high-end wines in the state, Napa delivers almost 27% of the sales value of the state’s wine. With its premium grapes and top quality wines, Napa claims almost 21% of the total economic impact of wine in California.

• The full economic impact of the wine and vineyard sector in Napa County totals $9.5 billion.
• The wine and vineyard sector is easily Napa’s largest employer. Napa’s wine and vineyard sector directly, and indirectly through the services and products they consume or generate, provides nearly 40,000 jobs in Napa, nearly half of the county’s total employment.
• These jobs generate wages of nearly $1.4 billion.
• Sales revenues of Napa appellation wines exceed $2.3 billion. Wine made in the county with grapes from other regions adds many millions in revenue to that figure. (Source: Napa Valley Vintners, Economic Impact of Wine and Vineyards in Napa County, MKF Research, 2005)

Tourism

The tourism industry is an extremely important part of what makes Napa County such a vibrant and economically progressive community. The average visitor to Napa County spends $197 per day with those staying over-night spending $233 per day. The visitors’ spending impacts almost every segment of the county’s economy in a significant way with almost one billion dollars in direct spending and $1.3 billion in total impact. Over 17,000 jobs are created which provide nearly half a billion dollars in income to residents. (Source: Napa County Economic Impact Study, March 2006)

Major employers (2005):

Napa State Hospital

Napa Valley Unified School District

Cultured Stone

Queen of the Valley Medical Center

Napa County

Veteran’s Home

St. Helena Hospital

Education

School Districts (2008-2009 enrollment)

Calistoga Joint Unified                       820

Howell Mountain Elementary              113

Napa County Office of Educatio       197

Napa Valley Unified                             17,418

Pope Valley Union                                       67

St Helena Unified                                    1,389

Napa County Total                               20,133

Colleges:          Napa Valley College (California community college, Napa)

                        Pacific Union College (Seventh Day Adventist, Angwin)

Libraries

(Collection; 2006 circulation):

Napa City/County Library (149,583; 595,804)

American Canyon Napa County Library (21,790; 75,829)

Calistoga Napa County Library (18,857; 34,925)

Yountville Napa County Library (8,182; 16,167)

St. Helena Public Library (90,315; 230,634)