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Thursday, August 6, 2026

Santa Maria vs Santa Barbara

Santa Maria, CA compared with Santa Barbara, CA · 55 miles apart

Santa Maria has 111,390 residents to Santa Barbara’s 86,422. Santa Maria comes out ahead on median rent, homeownership, price to income. Santa Barbara does better on median household income, average commute, bachelor's degree +.

Santa Maria, CA Santa Barbara, CA
Population 111,390 86,422
Density (per sq mi) 4,883 4,434
Median household income $84,746 $106,182
Median home value $531,700 $1,570,800
Median rent $1,925 $2,413
Homeownership 50.2% 39.9%
Average commute 22.4 min 17.3 min
Median age 29.3 39.7
Bachelor's degree + 15.7% 51.9%
Poverty rate 17.3% 14%
Unemployment 7.3% 5.8%
Price to income 6.3× 14.8×

Highlighted where one city is clearly better on that measure. Population, density, home value and median age carry no highlight — a higher number there is good or bad depending on what you want.

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