On this page
How affordable is this community?
- ACS 5-year estimates · B19013, B25082, B25090 · 2010–2024
- Zillow ZHVI
- FRED 30-year fixed mortgage rate
- Insurance premium rates (CommunityScale)
This chart tracks whether housing prices are keeping pace with local incomes. The gap between what homes cost and what households can afford reveals affordability trends over time.
How is the population changing?
- Census Population Estimates Program (PEP) · 2010–2025
- ACS 5-year estimates · B01001 · 2010–2024
- CommunityScale population projection model
Population growth patterns reveal how communities are evolving. This chart shows historical population changes by age group and projects future trends based on demographic patterns.
Historical population comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program (PEP): counties directly from PEP's annual estimates by age, and municipalities from PEP sub-county totals with age detail from the American Community Survey (ACS). Projections use CommunityScale's PEP-anchored cohort-migration forecast model.
The model follows each five-year age cohort through the community's 2010–2024 population history and projects those cohort trends forward, launching from the most recent PEP estimate (2025). Group-quarters residents — college dorms, prisons, military barracks, nursing facilities — do not follow household demographics, so they are separated out, projected on their own trend, and added back. In small communities, where year-to-year cohort data is noisy, the model blends each cohort's trend toward the community's recent overall trend to keep projections stable.
How has employment changed over time?
- LEHD LODES Workplace Area Characteristics (WAC) · 2012–2023 (latest year per state)
- LEHD LODES Residence Area Characteristics (RAC) · 2012–2023 (latest year per state)
- BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · 2024
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics · 2024
Jobs by industry sector since 2012. Switch between local jobs — counted where the jobs are located — and resident jobs, counted where the workers live. On the local view the most recent year is a nowcast: it grows the latest local LODES job mix forward using recent county employment growth from QCEW and the BLS local employment series, so the newest point tracks today's economy instead of data that is roughly two years old.
Wage ranges for common occupations show how local pay compares across sectors. Bars show the 25th to 75th percentile annual salary range, with the median marked.
How are households changing by income?
- ACS 5-year estimates · B25007, B01001, B19001, B19113 · 2010–2024
- HUD Income Limits · FY 2025
- BLS CPI-U · 2010–2024
- Census PUMS 5-year · 2019–2023
Understanding how households at different income levels are growing or declining helps identify which groups face the greatest housing pressure and where new housing is most needed.
| AMI Group | Income Range | Households |
|---|---|---|
| <30% AMI | <$36K | 26,964 |
| 30-50% AMI | $36K - $59K | 19,951 |
| 50-80% AMI | $59K - $95K | 26,437 |
| 80-100% AMI | $95K - $119K | 14,757 |
| 100-120% AMI | $119K - $142K | 11,998 |
| >120% AMI | >$142K | 48,928 |
Who lives here today?
- ACS 5-year estimates · B19001, B19037, B19113, B19131 · 2020–2024
- HUD Income Limits · FY 2025
Households may have different structure type preferences depending on characteristics such as household size, income, employment, presence of children, age of individuals, and lifestyle choices. Understanding the housing stock in corresponding terms helps assess how well existing units align with existing households' ideals.
This chart shows how household composition has changed over time, comparing the distribution of household types between 2015 and 2023. Changes in household types can indicate shifting demographics and evolving housing needs in a community.
Cost burden measures the share of household income spent on housing. Households paying more than 30% are considered cost burdened, while those paying more than 50% are severely cost burdened. Lower-income households typically face the highest rates of cost burden.
What does the housing stock look like?
The mix of housing types and ownership patterns shapes a community's character. This chart breaks down housing units by structure type and whether they're owner-occupied or rented.
How much new housing supply is needed?
- ACS 5-year estimates · B25001, B25004, B25016, B25024, B25042, B25053 · 2020–2024
- HUD Income Limits · FY 2025
- Census PUMS 5-year · 2020–2024
To keep up with growth and fill current housing shortages, Santa Barbara County, CA needs 14,029 new units over the next 5 years.
| 14,029 |
Units to address shortages in existing housing stock
Production needs to address vacancy rates and other factors.
|
| 713 |
Replacement housing
Effective annual loss rate is 0.9 per 1,000 units.
|
| 716 |
Ownership vacancy adjustment
Owner-occupied vacancy is 0.6%. This is below the minimum stable target of 1.5%.
|
| 3,272 |
Rental vacancy adjustment
Rental vacancy is 3.3%. This is below the minimum stable target of 7.4%.
|
| 9,318 |
Overcrowding adjustment
Overcrowding rate is 9.6%. This is above National avg. of 3.4%.
|
| 10 |
Substandard housing adjustment
Substandard housing rate is 0.99%. This is above National avg. of 0.98%.
|
| 14,029 |
Total 5-year housing production need (2026-2031)
|
| 2,806 |
Annual production pace
Average units needed per year to meet 5-year need
|
| 8.7% |
Total housing unit growth
Percent increase in housing stock over 5 years
|
| 1.7% |
Annual housing unit growth
Average percent increase in housing stock per year
|
Build Now Act: how could CDBG funding change?
- HUD CDBG Grantee Areas · Program year 2024
- ACS 5-year estimates · B25001, B25003, B25004, B25077 · 2010–2014, 2015–2019, 2020–2024
The Build Now Act (Section 213 of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act) ties a CDBG entitlement community's grant to how much housing it is building. This is a CommunityScale estimate from public ACS data, not HUD's official determination — HUD calculates from Census Master Address File block counts.
How do these communities compare to each other?
- ACS 5-year estimates · B01001, B01002, B11001, B19013, B25002, B25003, B25007, B25010, B25024, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25091 · 2010–2024
- BLS CPI-U · 2010–2024
| Place | Households | Household growth 2010-2024 | 65+ households | Median household income | Vacant units |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 149,608 | 5.5% | 34.5% | $98,161 | 6.8% |
| California | 13,548,091 | 9.3% | 32.0% | $99,122 | 7.5% |
| Santa Maria, CA | 29,505 | 11.4% | 29.5% | $84,746 | 3.2% |
| Santa Barbara, CA | 36,291 | 2.7% | 34.3% | $106,182 | 7.4% |
| Lompoc, CA | 14,199 | 5.8% | 28.4% | $72,004 | 4.4% |
| Goleta, CA | 12,348 | 14.2% | 30.4% | $122,370 | 4.6% |
| Carpinteria, CA | 5,138 | 2.1% | 46.2% | $100,658 | 15.2% |
| Guadalupe, CA | 2,092 | 10.8% | 25.5% | $66,930 | 5.2% |
| Solvang, CA | 2,726 | 27.6% | 54.9% | $109,091 | 3.1% |
| Buellton, CA | 1,886 | 25.1% | 27.9% | $99,936 | 13.6% |