5 Community

5.1 Demographics

Key Points:

  • Santa Barbara County’s population is on a continued three-year long decline. Meanwhile, the Tri-county area as a whole is experiencing its sixth consecutive year of population decline.
  • Net migration to Santa Barbara County has been steadily decreasing since 2016, with the largest decrease in the recorded data occurring in 2021.
  • Santa Barbara’s white and black population are declining, while populations of other ethnicities are increasing.

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5.1.1 Local Demographics

The Tri-counties area is composed of Santa Barbara County, Ventura County, and San Luis Obispo County. In 2024, population growth was negative at -0.25%. Population growth for the Tri-counties has not returned to its peak in the recorded data of about 0.9% in 2013 and 2014. Santa Barbara County recorded positive population growth of 0.34%. Population growth in San Luis Obispo County was positive at 0.36%. Ventura County experienced negative population growth of -0.77%. The overall decline in the tri-counties population was therefore driven by Ventura County.

In Santa Barbara County specifically, unincorporated areas experienced the highest growth rate in 2024 at 4.51%. On the other hand, many areas of Santa Barbara County experienced negative growth. These areas include Buellton, Carpinteria, and Goleta, etc. Among cities with a negative growth rate, Solvang faced the lowest growth rate, at -2.54%.

5.1.2 Demographic Details

Incorporated areas of Santa Barbara County are expected to see population increase to 439,900 in 2025, up from 422,700 in 2023. Within the increasing population, there is no clear trend of groups of age demographics that are significantly increasing or decreasing. Similarly, gender groups do not indicate significant differences. However, change of population is seen more clearly in ethnicities in Santa Barbara County. The white population has decreased since 2016, while the Black, Asian and Hispanic populations have increased.

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The median age in the recorded areas of Santa Barbara County is expected to be 34.96 in 2025. Goleta has the lowest median age, at 24.84 years old, and Solvang has the highest median age at 50.36 years old. The average age in the recorded areas of Santa Barbara County is expected to be 38.5 in 2025. Guadalupe has the lowest average age, at 33.2 years old, and Solvang has the highest average age at 47.4 years old.

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5.2 Crime

Key Points:

  • Santa Barbara County’s violent crime rate increased from 3.85 to 4.08 crimes per 1,000 persons from 2022 to 2023.
  • Solvang had the lowest property crime rate and Santa Maria the highest in 2023.
  • Guadalupe had the lowest violent crime rate and Santa Maria the highest in 2023.

This is an interactive agriculture data dashboard from the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. If you cannot access the embedded content, you can visit it directly at this link .

Over the past 10 years (2014-2023), property crime rates decreased and violent crime rates increased county wide by -20% and 38%, respectively. Compared to the United States, Santa Barbara County had 1.8 less property crimes per 1,000 persons in 2023, with property crime rates of 16.7 and 18.44, respectively. In terms of violent crime rates, the United States had 3.63 and Santa Barbara County 4.08 crimes per 1,000 persons in 2023. In what follows, we discuss these trends and further break down the composition of crime.

5.2.1 Violent Crime

Violent crime is separated into four sections: aggravated assault, homicide, rape, and robbery. Aggravated assault made up 69.4% of violent crimes in Santa Barbara County in 2023, totaling 1,270 and thereby making it the largest category of violent crimes within the county. Homicide made up the smallest fraction of violent crimes at 0.6%, with just 11 counts. Robbery and rape made up the second and third largest categories of violent crimes, respectively.

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5.2.2 Property Crime

As defined by the California Department of Justice, property crime is divided into three separate categories: burglary, motor vehicle theft, and larceny-theft. Larceny-theft made up 64.1% of property crimes in 2023, totaling 4,854 crimes. The high percentage of this type of crime is most likely attributed to the ease with which individuals can steal and resell items, such as theft of motor vehicle parts, shoplifting, and bicycle theft. Motor vehicle theft, which totaled 1,579 and constituted 20.9% of the all property crime, is the second most perpetrated type. Burglary and arson made up the smallest category at 14% and 1.03%.

You can select other areas and years to see how the components change over time.

5.3 Education

Key Point:

  • Enrollment at the University of California, Santa Barbara has increased slightly since 2023, however has not surpassed its peak in 2022.

The University of California, Santa Barbara enrolled 26,133 students in Fall 2024, a 1.4% decrease from the record high of 26,421 in Fall 2022. Allan Hancock College registration increased from 11,977 in 2022 to 12,866 in 2023, remaining well below its peak of 16,066 in Fall 2008. Santa Barbara City College enrolled 17,012 students in the fall 2024, higher than the fall 2022 enrollment.

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5.3.1 Expenditures on Education

Using the following figures, we display the year-to-year changes in education expenditures at the state, county, and district level. These expenditures include the following costs: salaries, benefits, acquisitions, and construction. To measure these changes, we use the cost per average daily attendance (ADA), which measures the number of days of student attendance divided by the total number of days of instruction.

At the state and county levels, expenditures per ADA continued on the upward trend that began in 2013. For the 2023-24 school year, expenditures per ADA for the state and county rose by 9.0% and 9.1%, respectively. Within Santa Barbara county, spending per student varies substantially across school districts. None of the 20 districts experienced declines in spending per ADA. Montecito Union Elementary has the highest cost per ADA at $44,189.50.

When looking at the growth trend of school spending, it is helpful to also consider indicators such as average class size, student-teacher ratios, and other performance measures to better understand the trend. For example, the increase in the cost per ADA could be attributed to either an increase in expenditures or a fall in enrollment. The rise in Santa Barbara County for this year may be due in part to the decline in enrollment if education spending has not sufficiently adjusted to the decrease. Alternatively, general increases in spending could account for increased costs, although these changes cannot be directly observed. Thus, we cannot determine which of these factors is the driving force.

This is an interactive agriculture data dashboard from the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. If you cannot access the embedded content, you can visit it directly at this link .

This is an interactive agriculture data dashboard from the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. If you cannot access the embedded content, you can visit it directly at this link .

5.3.2 Performance Indicators

Created by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), the California Assessment of Student Performance Progress (CASSPP) replaced the STAR exam in the Spring of 2014 due to state efforts to change testing from multiple choice and memorization to more interactive questions that require critical analysis skills. Since the trial run in 2013-14, the 2023-24 academic year is the tenth year of publicly released results.

In 2024, Santa Barbara County students performed far better in English than in either math or science: 39.85% of students met or exceeded the standard in English, compared with 28.93% in math and 25.53% in science. Although English had the lowest percentage of students who met or exceeded the standard, the percentage of students in the lowest-scoring category of “Standard Not Met” was highest for math at 46.4%. A higher percentage of 11th grade students met or exceeded standards in English than 3rd or 5th grade students.

In 2013, the California State Board of Education adopted the Next Generation Science Standards which focuses on creating a shift in science education to have students express more conceptual and applied understanding of the material. The California Science Test (CAST) results were made available for the first cohort of students in 2019. The 2023-24 results show that the majority of students (55.86%) nearly meet the standard for science, while 17.85% meet the standard and only 7.68% exceed it. Students younger than grade 5 are not required to take the CAST exam.

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The four-year high school graduation rate in Santa Barbara County was 91.4% in 2023, exceeding the statewide rate of 86.4%. Out of 4713 students who graduated in 2024, 2124 met the standards required to attend a University of California or California State University school. Santa Barbara County has a high school dropout rate of 4%, compared with the statewide rate of 6.8%. Among Santa Barbara County school districts, Santa Ynez Valley Union High has the highest graduation rate of 94%. Lompoc Unified has the most students who received a Special Education Certificate of Completion.

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5.4 Environment

Key Points:

  • After Santa Barbara County’s year of extreme rain in 2023, rainfall has decreased 10.92% in 2024.
  • In 2024, Santa Barbara County had 1 day exceeding the 8-hour state ozone standard, and 0 days so far in 2025.
  • Total energy use in Santa Barbara County is up in 2022.

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5.4.1 Annual Rainfall

In 2023, the nation experienced a 202% increase of normal annual rainfall, measured from September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2023. 2023 is therefore classified as a “Wet Year”. In this year, Santa Barbara County received more than 120% of normal rainfall. Since this “Wet Year”, Santa Barbara County has seen a decrease in annual rainfall by 10.92%, returning to a slight drought. In 2024, Santa Barbara County saw a mean annual rainfall of 32.96 inches. Similarly, Santa Ynez and Santa Maria have also each seen a decrease in rainfall compared to 2023, with a mean annual rainfall of 20.99 inches and 16.52 inches respectively. These values decreased from 2023 by 36.61% for Santa Ynez, and 35.77% for Santa Maria.

5.4.2 Water Reservoirs

Cachuma, Gibraltar, and Jameson are Santa Barbara County’s major water reservoirs. Reservoir levels are measured in acre-feet (one acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons). Between April 1, 2024 and April 1, 2025, reservoir levels for the Cachuma decreased by 21,193 acre-feet (AF), decreased 582 AF for the Gibraltar, and decreased 166 AF for the Jameson. These declines in reservoir levels can be understood in the context of their overall reservoir capacities. The overall capacity for the Cachua reservoir is 192,987 AF, so in April 2025, the reservoir reached 88.42% capacity with 170,640 AF. This was a 11.47% decrease in capacity from 2024, which experienced a 98.66% level of capacity filled. Also in 2025, Gibraltar’s reservoir reached a 93.09% capacity, and Jameson reached 91.54% of its capacity for maximum water levels, despite decreasing in water levels from 2024.

5.4.3 Water Consumption

In 2024, the average residential per capita consumption (gal/day) within Santa Barbara County was 56 gallons per day. This value decreased compared to 2023 which was 68 (gal/day). Water consumption has largely been decreasing since 2014, largely due to increase awareness of conservation efforts due to the continued drought.

5.4.4 Energy Consumption

  • 1 MMBtu = 1 million BTU (British Thermal Unit)
  • 1 MMBtu = 10 therms
  • 1 MMBtu = 293.07 kWh (kilowatt hour)

Santa Barbara County’s total Electricity use rose by 2.6% in 2022, increasing from 2,733.044 gigawatt hours to 2,804.125 gigawatt hours. Residential electricity, which made up 29.6% of total electricity consumption in 2022, also rose by 2.31%. The remaining category of electricity consumption, non-residential energy use, increased by 2.72%. We should expect to continue seeing a decrease in energy consumption as Santa Barbara County establishes its own renewable sources to achieve 100% sustainable energy goals by 2030 – as voted on by the City Council in June 2017.

The total Gas use in Santa Barbara County decreased by 1.4% in 2022, decreasing from 130.8 Millions Therms in 2021 to 129.2 Millions Therms in 2022. Residential gas use, which made up about 45% of the total use decreased from 59.4 to 58.4 Millions Therms. The remaining category of gas consumption, non-residential energy use, decreased from 71.4 to 70.8 Millions Therms.

This is an interactive agriculture data dashboard from the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. If you cannot access the embedded content, you can visit it directly at this link .

This is an interactive agriculture data dashboard from the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. If you cannot access the embedded content, you can visit it directly at this link .

5.4.5 Air Quality

The Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District has a network of monitoring stations to record the concentration of various air pollutants. Air quality is presented in terms of the number of days the ozone level exceeded the state 8-hour standard of 0.070 parts per million. In the long view, Santa Barbara County has experienced air quality improvements, which can be seen in the declining number of state 1-hours and 8-hour ozone exceeding days that occurred between 1990 and 2024. Neither 2022 nor 2023 experienced any days where ozone levels exceeded the state 1-hour standard. Moreover, 2023 experienced no days where the ozone level exceeded the state 8-hour standard. 2021’s 1 exceedance day marks one of the lowest levels since 1990, when the number of state 8-hour ozone exceedance days was 87.

National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) monitor whether regions in the United States meet certain health standards. These standards tell us how much of a substance can be in the air without causing harm based on proven medical research. In order to receive the attainment designation for regional ozone standards, local data must show that the 8-hour standard was not violated by more than one day per year on average during the previous three calendar years. In other words, regions must not have more than three total 8-hour exceedance days for three consecutive years. Santa Barbara County has experienced 1, 0, 0 exceedance days in 2024, 2023, 2022, respectively. As a result, Santa Barbara County currently boasts the attainment status according to NAAQS.