Photo: Mike Boucher · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Montecito are among the highest of any U.S. town
The poverty rate is 8.3%, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Jobs and income earn Montecito A−; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Montecito stands out on work
Home offices are common in Montecito
34% of Montecito workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Montecito and Santa Barbara trade workers both ways
Santa Barbara is the top workplace for Montecito residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Montecito come from (30% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Montecito are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Nearly all the work in Montecito is services
90% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 4% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Montecito’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Montecito is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #185 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($231,005, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Montecito could be anywhere from B to A.
Commuting from Montecito: about 18 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Montecito workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,091 commuters (the 34% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
31% of working residents work in Santa Barbara
Where Montecito clocks in
31% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
In Montecito, services account for most jobs
2,951 jobs are based in Montecito.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Montecito, 2013 → 2023: 3,021 → 2,951. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Montecito’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Montecito
About 34% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who commutes out of Montecito, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,152 residents head out to work, 208 work right here, and 2,743 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
In Montecito, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Montecito is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #382 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 16.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,164 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.9% of Montecito households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Montecito’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Montecito ranks: 858th of 2,891 U.S. towns of 6,300 to 12,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 856 | Woodburn VA | 9,503 | $134K | 10.8% | 4.7% | 6% | A− |
| 857 | Monroe NY | 9,462 | $110K | 9.0% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| 858 | Montecito CA | 9,031 | $231K | 8.3% | 4.0% | 9% | A− |
| 859 | Gateway FL | 11,176 | $107K | 3.6% | 4.7% | 5% | A− |
| 860 | Raymond NH | 11,050 | $105K | 6.7% | 3.0% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,891 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Montecito, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Bordering towns draw 31% of Montecito’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Montecito workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montecito | – | A− | A− | 18 min | $231,005 |
| Santa Barbara | 31% | B | A | 17 min | $106,182 |
| Summerland | under 2% | B | C+ | 21 min | $95,694 |
| Toro Canyon | under 2% | A | B+ | 27 min | $140,743 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Santa Barbara. Darker towns draw more of Montecito’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Montecito: questions
What is the median household income in Montecito?
$231,005 (±$9,799) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Montecito?
8.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Montecito?
18 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Montecito work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Barbara (31%, 5 mi), Los Angeles (6%, 75 mi), Goleta (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Montecito walkable?
Montecito is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Montecito without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Montecito, from the people who make the trip.
More of Montecito
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.