The Notre Dame student body has a diverse ethnic and socio-economic student population which mirrors the changing ethnicity of the population of the Central Coast.

Students travel to Notre Dame High School from eight Catholic elementary schools located in the cities of Salinas, Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Grove, Watsonville, Gilroy and Hollister, as well as private and public schools in the Salinas Valley and on the Monterey Peninsula. Approximately seventy-three percent of the young women attending Notre Dame are Catholic, with the bulk of the remainder of students belonging to other Christian denominations along with a small number from other faith traditions.

While the majority of the students live in the Salinas area, girls do commute within a 50-mile radius to attend Notre Dame. Students come from as far south as King City, east as Hollister, north as Gilroy and Aptos, and down the coast to Carmel and Carmel Valley.  While many students drive or carpool, Monterey Salinas Transit is available from King City, Greenfield, Soledad and Gonzales. In 2008, Palma and Notre Dame contracted with Gilroy Public Schools to bring a bus to Salinas from Gilroy, San Juan Bautista, Aromas, Prunedale, and Hollister. Monterey Salinas Transit also provides bus service from Carmel Valley, Carmel, Monterey, Seaside, Marina, and Salinas with scheduled stops (at the corner of school property) coinciding with both the start of the classes and dismissal time.