At the 2005 census, there were 22 people, 39,297 households and 25 families residing in the city. The population density was 7,948.4 per square mile (3,068.1/km²). There were 39,659 housing units at an average density of 2,086.8/sq mi (805.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 45.16% White, 6.22% Asian American, 3.27% African American, 1.26% Native American, 38.70% from other races, and 5.12% from two or more races. 64.13% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. 49.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 17.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.69 and the average family size was 4.08.
Age distribution was 32.0% under the age of 19 or younger, 11.8% from 18 to 24, 33.7% from 25 to 44, 15.5% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 117.7 males. For every 102 females age 18 and over, there were 117.4 males.
The median household income was $43,728, and the median family income was $44,669. Males had a median income of $35,641 versus $27,013 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,495. About 12.8% of families and 16.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.1% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.
Median household income in the city tended to be significantly higher alongside the city limits, especially in the northern Harden Ranch and Creekbridge neighborhoods. East Salinas and the downtown area suffered from a very low median household income as well as high crime rates. South and North Salinas featured roughly the same level of median households income with the latter being home to city's wealthiest newly constructed neighborhoods.
Amtrak, the national passenger rail system, serves Salinas, operating its Coast Starlight daily in each direction between Seattle, Washington, and Los Angeles.
Public transportation via bus is provided by Monterey-Salinas Transit. Public buses take passengers throughout the county, as well as San Jose and Gilroy. Buses to San Jose and Gilroy connect to Caltrain and Amtrak in those cities.
Salinas Municipal Airport is located on the southeastern boundary of the City of Salinas, three miles (5 km) from the city center. It is a general aviation facility occupying 763 acres (3.1 km), with three runways serving single and twin engine aircraft and helicopters, as well as an increasing number of turbopropeller and turbine-powered business jets.
The airport has an air traffic control tower in operation twelve hours a day, seven days a week. The airport terminal is located on Mortensen Avenue and houses airport office staff as well as professional offices. The city is currently accepting proposals for leasing and operation of the restaurant located within the Terminal. Salinas Airport Commissioners agreed to a proposed project that would bring a 100-room hotel, offices and hangars to a vacant lot in front of the Salinas Municipal Airport terminal. The Salinas Jet Center would include a national chain hotel, 80,000 square feet (7,000 m) of office space, four large complexes combining more offices with airplane hangars and a 24-hour, full-service aircraft fueling station. The project would also include a taxiway to allow planes to access the new hangars.
The airport has full Instrument Landing System (ILS) and VHF omnidirectional range (VOR) located on the airport. The ILS has a Medium Intensity Approach Lighting System, with Runway Alignment Indicator Lights. The VOR approach has Runway End Identifier Lights. All but the ILS runway, RWY 31, have Visual Approach Slope Indicators (VASIs).
The airport is the site of the California International Airshow, set annually in the late summer or early autumn. The event draws thousands of visitors to Salinas over its three-day run.
Aircraft based on the field: 224; Single engine airplanes: 160; Multi engine airplanes: 49; Jet airplanes: 1; Helicopters: 14; Aircraft operations: avg 237/day; Transient general aviation 57%; Local general aviation 40%; Air taxi 5%; Military less than 1%.
Salinas has seven school districts serving the city core and adjacent unincorporated areas. The largest school district in Salinas is the Salinas Union High School District (grades 7-12) with 13,578 students enrolled in 10 campuses. The Salinas City Elementary School District is the largest elementary school district in Salinas, with 12 schools and 7,954 students. . Other districts include Santa Rita Union Elementary School District, Graves Elementary School District, Washington Union School District, Lagunita School District]], and Alisal Union School District.
Opportunities for higher education in Salinas include Hartnell College, a California Community College.
The Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital and Nativdad Medical Center are both located in Salinas.
Salinas is a major stop on the professional rodeo circuit. The California Rodeo Salinas began in 1911 as a Wild West Show on the site of the old race track ground, now the Salinas Sports Complex. Every third week of July is Big Week, when cowboys and fans come for the traditional rodeo competitions, including bullriding. Rodeo-related events held in Salinas and Monterey include cowboy poetry, winetasting, a carnival, barbecues and a gala cowboy ball.