Santa Barbara

Population & Demographics

Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Barbara is home to 87,779 people. Explore its demographics, housing, and economy — plus how its 39,239 resident workers commute each day.

CaliforniaCensus ACS 5-Year · LODES 2023
87,779
people
Population

87,779 residents

Median age 39.7 · U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year (2024).

Santa Barbara population & demographics

Who lives in Santa Barbara — population, age, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
87,779
Median age
39.7yrs
Median household income
$106,182
Median home value
$1,570,800
Median gross rent
$2,413/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
51.9%
Poverty rate
14.0%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Race & ethnicity in Santa Barbara

How Santa Barbara breaks down by race and ethnicity — each bar is that group’s share of the population, from the U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year (2024).

White52.8%
Hispanic or Latino36.4%
Two or more races4.4%
Asian3.5%
Black1.4%
Some other race1.0%
American Indian / Alaska Native0.3%
Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander0.1%

Race across Santa Barbara

Each dot is a group of people, placed in their 2020 Census block and colored by race or ethnicity — the pattern shows where groups live across Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara at a glance
Employed Residents
39,239
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
8.1mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
43.8%
Share working within the area
Work from home
18.9%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Goleta
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Santa Barbara proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Santa Barbara commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

82
Commute Score

82 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Santa Barbara

39,239 commutes, one dot at a time

Santa Barbara

Where 39,239 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Santa Barbara, by worker count.

1Santa Barbara0.0 mi17,187
2Goleta8.1 mi4,396
3Eastern Goleta Valley4.3 mi1,780
4Los Angeles80.2 mi1,560
5Montecito4.6 mi999
6San Buenaventura (Ventura)29.8 mi764
7Carpinteria11.4 mi738
8Oxnard34.3 mi616

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Santa Barbara.

1Santa Barbara0.0 mi17,187
2Eastern Goleta Valley4.3 mi4,420
3Goleta8.1 mi4,286
4San Buenaventura (Ventura)29.8 mi2,234
5Los Angeles80.2 mi1,805
6Lompoc45.1 mi1,604
7Oxnard34.3 mi1,518
8Carpinteria11.4 mi1,489

Top industries

The sectors that employ Santa Barbara’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance18.0%
AFAccommodation and Food Services15.3%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services8.9%
EDEducational Services7.5%
RTRetail Trade7.0%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services6.4%
COConstruction6.3%
OSOther Services (except Public Administration)5.2%
ARArts, Entertainment, and Recreation4.1%
Connectivity

Internet options for Santa Barbara

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

4 providers · 1 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps94% of homes
2 Gbps94%
5 Gbps81%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Santa Barbara

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).