3 Employment and Income

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 .

3.1 Employment

Key Points

  • Santa Barbara County’s total employment for all industries grew by 3,651 jobs in 2025, a gain of 1.77%
  • The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stayed stagnant in 2025 at 4.36%.
  • Santa Ynez Valley has the lowest unemployment rate in the county at 0.3% and Lomoc has the highest unemployment rate in the county at 13.3%.

3.1.1 Santa Barbara County Employment

Santa Barbara County’s total employment for all industries grew in 2025. Total Employment increased from 211,405 jobs in 2022 to 215,057 jobs in 2025. This gain of 3,651 workers represents an increase of 1.70%, which is higher than the previous year’s growth rate of 0.89%. Since December of 2013, Santa Barbara County has had a net gain of 12,561 jobs, averaging an increase of 1,046 jobs each year. This is a sign that the labor markets in Santa Barbara County are healthy.

Santa Barbara’s non-farm payroll employment stands at 186,400, reflecting a monthly decrease of 0.11% and a year-over-year decline of 0.32%. This places Santa Barbara slightly lower than the statewide trend. San Luis Obispo experienced a 0.34% monthly increase, while San Jose and Oxnard saw modest monthly growth of 0.03% and 0.16%, respectively. Over the long term, Santa Barbara’s employment trends remain stable, though still lagging behind the gains observed in larger areas like San Jose.

The average number of unemployed workers and the unemployment rate has stayed stagnant in the past year. The unemployment rate dropped from a high of 4.67% in 2024 to, based on the most recent data, 4.3% in 2025. The number unemployed, defined as workers who are without work and are actively seeking work, has increased from a peak of 9,700 in 2023, to 10,291 in 2024, and then down to 9,727 in 2025. This drop of 564 unemployed workers in the past year represents a decline of 5.48%. The declines in both variables have been gradually slowing down as the labor market returns to so-called “full employment”, loosely defined as the lowest possible level that will not cause inflation. If unemployment falls significantly, inflation will rise as employers compete to hire workers and push up wages too fast. The size of the labor force in Santa Barbara County has increased from 2024 to 2025 by 3,683 workers. This is an increase of 1.67%.

3.1.2 Santa Barbara County Industries

Over the past year, Total Farm saw the largest industry increase in employment, with a growth rate of 6.56%. Government employment (State and Local combined) also grew significantly, rising by 4.75% over the year. In contrast, Total Private employment declined by 1.39% over the past year. Total Nonfarm employment overall fell slightly, decreasing by 0.32% compared to the previous year. Since 2013, the percentage of total employment for most industries has not significantly changed.

Employment shares across industries have remained relatively stable in the short term. However, Total Farm’s significant recent gains suggest a strengthening in agricultural employment. Meanwhile, Total Nonfarm employment has seen small declines (-0.11% over the month and -0.32% over the year).

The figures below depict the employment time series for Total Nonfarm, Total Farm, Goods Producing, Services Providing, and the six largest 2-digit industries in Santa Barbara County. Industries such as Total Farm, Leisure and Hospitality, Government, and Retail Trade continue to display strong seasonal patterns. Sectors like Manufacturing and Education and Health Services show relatively stable employment without strong seasonal trends. Recent trends indicate steady gains in Leisure and Hospitality, Education and Health Services, and Professional and Business Services, while Retail Trade employment continues to face declines following its 2015 peak.

The largest sector in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA is goverment with 20.01% of the total nonfarm employment. Follwed by Private Education and Health Services with 17.76%, and Leisure and Hospitality with 14.75%, Trade, Transportation, and Utilities with 13.89%. The smallest sector is Mining and Logging with 0.27% of the total nonfarm employment. The fastest growing sector is Private Educational services, Health Care and Social Assistance, and Accommodation, which grew by 9.09 %, 3.76 %, and 2.04% respectively. The industry that decreasing the most are Mining and Logging and Manufacturing, which decreased by 16.67% and 8.59% respectively.

3.1.3 City Data

Current unemployment rates are highest in Santa Maria (12.4%), Lompoc (13.3%), and Guadalupe (12.6%). Unemployment rates are lowest in Santa Ynez Valley (0.30%) and Buellton (4.8%). Unemployment rates in all areas have declined significantly since 2020, when several North County cities had unemployment rates around 15%.

3.1.4 California Counties

Labor markets all across California vary significantly as counties’ labor markets are dependent on their geographical region. Santa Barbara’s labor market compares well to most counties in California. However, they aren’t as strong as some counties in Northern California, and specifically those counties in the Bay Area. Santa Barbara’s unemployment rate (4.36%) is above average relative to other California counties. Santa Barbara has the 13th lowest unemployment rate among all California counties. The county with the lowest unemployment rate is San Mateo County (3.56%), which is part of San Francisco’s Bay Area. The top four counties with the lowest unemployment are: San Mateo County (3.56%), San Francisco County (3.74%), Orange County (3.89%). The three counties with the highest unemployment rate in the state are Imperial County (18.28%), Colusa County (12.58%), and Tulare County (10.03%). These counties also had the highest unemployment rates in 2024 as well. Most California counties’ unemployment rates fall between 3% and 5%. Some California counties saw a decrease in their unemployment rate compared to 2024 levels. Sierra County saw the largest decrease in the unemployment rate (17.83 percentage points).

3.2 Occupations

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 .

The Occupational Employment Statistics (OES) aggregates occupations into 22 occupation groups. A summary of the data for these occupation groups is shown above. Food Preparation and Serving-Related Occupations is the largest occupation group, with 23,340 jobs, and Office and Administrative Support Occupations is the second largest group, with 21,000 jobs. The occupations with the highest hourly wage is Management Occupations, with an average hourly wage of $69.75, the second highest is Computer and Mathmatical with an average hourly wage of $65.76, and the third highest is Legal Occupations, with an average hourly wage of $60.8. The occupation group with the lowest hourly wage is Farming, Fishing, and Forestry, with an average hourly wage of $19.03, the second lowest is Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations, with an average hourly wage of $16.76, and the third lowest is Healthcare Support Occupations, with an average hourly wage of $20.9

3.3 Income

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 .

Per capita net earnings constitute the majority of per capita personal income in the United States, California, and Santa Barbara County. These earnings include wages and salaries, supplements to wages and salaries (such as employer contributions to pension and insurance funds), and proprietors’ income, less contributions to government social insurance, and adjusted to reflect income by place of residence rather than place of work. In 2023, the per capita income of Santa Barbara County was $82,736. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) discontinued county- and metro-level data reporting starting in 2024, so no data are available beyond 2023. Santa Barbara County’s per capita income in 2023 was higher than both the California state average of $72,425 and the national average of $64,345 in 2024.