Sand City is located 2 miles (3 km) northeast of Monterey,[8] at an elevation of 72 feet (22 m).

[7] The city is predominantly a business community, and has a number of larger retail stores.

Every August, the artists of Sand City and neighboring areas hold a street fair called the "West End Celebration".

[8] The Sand City post office opened in 1961,[8] but has now been combined with the Seaside post office and shares Seaside's ZIP code (93955) as well.

The racial makeup of Sand City was 223 (66.8%) White, 13 (3.9%) African American, 3 (0.9%) Native American, 16 (4.8%) Asian, 1 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 61 (18.3%) from other races, and 17 (5.1%) from two or more races.

At the 2000 census there were 261 people in 80 households, including 33 families, in the city.

There were 87 housing units at an average density of 154.5 per square mile (59.7/km2).

About 17.9% of families and 27.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.9% of those under the age of eighteen and 50.0% of those sixty five or over.