Photo: Saschaporsche · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Santa Ynez (0.8%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
Santa Ynez grades B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 84% of U.S. towns. About one in ten stay in Santa Ynez for work; outside it, Santa Barbara is the main destination (14%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Santa Ynez apart on work
Santa Ynez has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Santa Ynez went from 883 in 2013 to 1,354 in 2023, +53%. The jobs ↓
Santa Ynez’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Santa Ynez is Santa Barbara, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (248) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Santa Ynez gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Santa Ynez is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #298 of 847 in California. Unemployment holds Santa Ynez’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (13.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Santa Ynez could be anywhere from B− to A.
What the 1,354 jobs in Santa Ynez are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Ynez, 2013 → 2023: 883 → 1,354. 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 Ynez’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Santa Ynez goes to work
About 29% 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 Ynez on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,589 residents head out to work, 165 work right here, and 1,189 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 (0.77 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.
The places Santa Ynez commutes to
Where Santa Ynez clocks in
14% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
How long Santa Ynez spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santa Ynez workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,527 commuters (the 20% 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.
Most of Santa Ynez commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Santa Ynez is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #521 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,907 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% 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 3.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 78% 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). 4.8% of Santa Ynez households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Santa Ynez’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,266th of 4,000: where Santa Ynez ranks among U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,264 | Emerald Isle NC | 3,970 | $90K | 4.9% | 1.2% | 20% | B+ |
| 1,265 | Ridgemark CA | 3,403 | $130K | 4.6% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,266 | Santa Ynez CA | 4,467 | $111K | 13.0% | 0.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,267 | Shannon Hills AR | 4,829 | $71K | 3.9% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,268 | Glendale CO | 4,475 | $71K | 16.1% | 1.7% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Ynez, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 10% of Santa Ynez
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Santa Ynez workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ynez | – | B+ | B+ | 27 min | $110,781 |
| Ballard | under 2% | — | — | 39 min | — |
| Solvang | 10% | B+ | A+ | 29 min | $109,091 |
Same-state neighbors only. Ballard: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Solvang. Darker towns draw more of Santa Ynez’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 Ynez: questions
What is the median household income in Santa Ynez?
$110,781 (±$24,650) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santa Ynez?
13.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santa Ynez?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Santa Ynez work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Barbara (14%, 26 mi), Solvang (10%, 3 mi), Goleta (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Santa Ynez walkable?
Santa Ynez is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santa Ynez without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Ynez, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Ynez
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.