Photo: Pierre André · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Santa Barbara are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns
Santa Barbara grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. Below the poverty line: 14.0% of residents (California 12.0%). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 2.4 in Santa Maria.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Santa Barbara, in brief
Why Santa Barbara gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Santa Barbara is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #453 of 847 in California. Household income holds Santa Barbara’s grade up ($106,182, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Santa Barbara could be anywhere from B− to B.
The daily trip from Santa Barbara: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santa Barbara workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 35,700 commuters (the 19% 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.
Who leaves Santa Barbara for work, and who comes in
On a workday 19,655 residents head out to work, 15,012 work right here, and 34,605 people come in from elsewhere.
About 101,000 people are in Santa Barbara on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
12% of working residents work in Goleta
Where Santa Barbara clocks in
12% 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.
65% of the jobs in Santa Barbara pay over $3,333 a month
49,617 jobs are based in Santa Barbara.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Barbara, 2013 → 2023: 45,400 → 49,617. 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 Santa Barbara’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Santa Barbara
About 24% 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.
Santa Barbara is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Santa Barbara is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #133 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Santa Barbara near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 44,010 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 33% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 3% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 7.9% of Santa Barbara households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Santa Barbara’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Santa Barbara ranks: 328th of 540 U.S. towns of 60,000 to 117,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 326 | North Port FL | 96,551 | $84K | 6.7% | 4.9% | 11% | B |
| 327 | Grand Forks ND | 60,365 | $64K | 15.5% | 2.4% | 70% | B |
| 328 | Santa Barbara CA | 86,422 | $106K | 14.0% | 5.8% | 43% | B |
| 329 | Pittsburg CA | 77,542 | $100K | 11.2% | 7.6% | 9% | B |
| 330 | Miami Beach FL | 81,594 | $73K | 14.4% | 4.6% | 24% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 540 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Santa Barbara, the top three, the last and three more from California.
22% of Santa Barbara works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Goleta (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Santa Barbara workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara | – | B | A | 17 min | $106,182 |
| Montecito | 3% | A− | A− | 18 min | $231,005 |
| Eastern Goleta Valley | 5% | A− | A | 15 min | $146,284 |
| Mission Canyon | under 2% | A | B | 14 min | $208,466 |
| Goleta | 12% | B+ | A | 18 min | $122,370 |
| University of California-Santa Barbara | 2% | B | A+ | 14 min | $69,327 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Santa Barbara’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 Santa Barbara: questions
What is the median household income in Santa Barbara?
$106,182 (±$5,647) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santa Barbara?
14.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santa Barbara?
17 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Santa Barbara work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Goleta (12%, 9 mi), Eastern Goleta Valley (5%, 5 mi), Los Angeles (4%, 79 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Santa Barbara walkable?
Santa Barbara is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.7 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santa Barbara without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 3% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Barbara, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Barbara
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.