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Big small town

Living in University of California-Santa Barbara, CA

University of California-Santa Barbara is a big small town of 12,121 people in Santa Barbara County, California. It's about 39 miles from Oxnard, CA and 87 miles from Los Angeles, CA, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 73°F and winter highs 64°F, with almost no snow. The typical home is valued around $453k and rent runs about $2k a month.

12,121people
$453kTypical home
$1,526/moRent
73° / 64°Summer / winter
0"Snow
330Sunny days
39Rain/snow days

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Size & setting

  • Big small town of 12,121
  • Part of a metro area
  • About 9,324 people per sq mi
  • 87 mi to Los Angeles, CA
  • 39 mi to Oxnard, CA
  • Has its own stores and services

Money

  • Typical home $453k (≈$2,856/mo)
  • Median rent $1,526/mo
  • Median household income $69k
  • Property tax about 1.2% of value
  • 14.0% unemployment

Weather

  • Summer highs around 73°F
  • Winter highs around 64°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
  • 39 days a year with rain or snow
  • Basically no snow
  • Snow days are rare
  • Rarely hits 100°F
  • Rarely drops below 10°F
  • Breezy

Safety

  • About average violent crime (417 per 100k), county-wide
  • Low property crime (1,224 per 100k), county-wide

People

  • Median age 20
  • 23% of households have kids
  • 1% are 65 or older
  • 79% have a college degree
  • Very diverse community
  • 89% of residents are college students

Getting around & homes

  • Average commute 16 min
  • 31% walk or take transit to work
  • 1 mi to SBA airport
  • 86 mi to BUR (major hub)
  • Amtrak station in town
  • 27% single-family homes
  • Typical home built around 1982
  • 47% of homes have broadband

Outdoors

  • Mountain country
  • Elevation 66 ft
  • Right on the coast
  • 179 mi to a big lake
  • 5 mi to the nearest trailhead
  • 109 mi to the nearest ski area
  • 9 mi to the nearest campground
  • 15 golf courses within 25 mi

Things to do

  • 266 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
  • 49 bars within 25 mi
  • 88 coffee shops within 25 mi
  • 3 music venues & clubs within 25 mi
  • 31 museums within 25 mi
  • 10 breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
  • 8 mi to the nearest farmers market

Everyday

  • Schools in the top 22% of California districts (reading)
  • 2 mi to the nearest grocery store
  • 3 mi to the nearest ER hospital
  • 3 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
  • 2 mi to the nearest vet
  • Dog park in town
  • 4 congregations per 10k people
  • College in town

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 University of California-Santa Barbara

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