IntelliMoveTake the quiz →
Mid-size city

Living in Santa Barbara, CA

Santa Barbara is a mid-size city of 87,779 people in Santa Barbara County, California. It's about 32 miles from Oxnard, CA and 79 miles from Los Angeles, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 76°F and winter highs 65°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $1.6M and rent runs about $2k a month.

87,779people
$1.6MTypical home
$2,413/moRent
76° / 65°Summer / winter
0"Snow
330Sunny days
41Rain/snow days

Is Santa Barbara right for you?

Take the 5-minute quiz and see your match — and how it stacks up against 34,000 other places.

Take the quiz →Open in the app

Size & setting

  • Mid-size city of 87,779
  • Part of a metro area
  • About 4,504 people per sq mi
  • 79 mi to Los Angeles, CA
  • 32 mi to Oxnard, CA
  • Has its own stores and services

Money

  • Typical home $1.6M (≈$9,905/mo)
  • Median rent $2,413/mo
  • Median household income $106k
  • Property tax about 0.5% of value
  • 6.0% unemployment

Weather

  • Summer highs around 76°F
  • Winter highs around 65°F
  • Comfortable summers (dew point 51°F)
  • 330 sunny days a year (198 totally clear)
  • 35 cloudy days a year
  • 19 of 90 winter days are gray
  • 41 days a year with rain or snow
  • Basically no snow
  • Snow days are rare
  • 2 days a year over 100°F
  • Rarely drops below 10°F
  • Breezy

Safety

  • Above-average violent crime (632 per 100k)
  • About average property crime (1,639 per 100k)

People

  • Median age 40
  • 24% of households have kids
  • 21% are 65 or older
  • 52% have a college degree
  • Very diverse community
  • 9% of residents are college students

Getting around & homes

  • Average commute 19 min
  • 6% walk or take transit to work
  • 7 mi to SBA airport
  • 79 mi to BUR (major hub)
  • Amtrak station in town
  • 55% single-family homes
  • Typical home built around 1965
  • 94% of homes have broadband

Outdoors

  • Mountain country
  • Elevation 436 ft
  • Right on the coast
  • 179 mi to a big lake
  • 4 mi to the nearest trailhead
  • 102 mi to the nearest ski area
  • 8 mi to the nearest campground
  • 11 golf courses within 25 mi

Things to do

  • 310 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
  • 53 bars within 25 mi
  • 100 coffee shops within 25 mi
  • 3 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
  • 23 museums within 25 mi
  • 5 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
  • Farmers market in town

Everyday

  • Schools in the top 35% of California districts (reading)
  • Grocery store in town
  • 6 mi to the nearest ER hospital
  • 6 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
  • Vet in town
  • Dog park in town
  • 4 congregations per 10k people
  • 2 mi to the nearest college

Politics

  • Santa Barbara County: D+27 in 2024
  • California: D+20 in 2024

Natural hazards

  • Very low hurricane risk
  • Very low tornado risk
  • High wildfire risk
  • High earthquake risk
  • Very low flood risk
  • High drought risk
  • Low winter storm risk
  • Moderate heat wave risk
  • Very low volcano risk

Places near Santa Barbara

More places in California →