Half Moon Bay is a somewhat small coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 11,176 people and three associated neighborhoods, Half Moon Bay is the 396th largest community in California.

Half Moon Bay home prices are not only among the most expensive in California, but Half Moon Bay real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Of important note, Half Moon Bay is also a city of artists. Half Moon Bay has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Half Moon Bay’s character.

Also of interest is that Half Moon Bay has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 20.45% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Half Moon Bay is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

One downside of living in Half Moon Bay is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Half Moon Bay, the average commute to work is 31.19 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.

As is often the case in a small city, Half Moon Bay doesn't have a public transportation system that people use for their commute.

If knowledge is power, Half Moon Bay is a pretty powerful place. 54.58% of the adults in Half Moon Bay have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Half Moon Bay in 2018 was $79,985, which is wealthy relative to California and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $319,940 for a family of four. However, Half Moon Bay contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Half Moon Bay is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Half Moon Bay home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Half Moon Bay residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Half Moon Bay also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 24.46% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Half Moon Bay include Irish, English, German, Italian, and French.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Half Moon Bay's cultural character, accounting for 20.97% of the city’s population.

The most common language spoken in Half Moon Bay is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.