Just the Facts, Ma’am: New Report Offers Neutral ― but Surprising ― Findings on Santa Barbara Travel Patterns

A landmark report has just been released that offers the best understanding yet of how people move into, out of, and within Santa Barbara County.

More sweeping and in-depth than any regional study before it, the 110-page document is a treasure trove of statistics and trends related to travel patterns ― and Santa Barbara life in general, from population to jobs to income to housing.

And maybe the most valuable part of all? “There’s no opinion included,” explained author Michael Becker, director of planning for the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG). “It’s just the numbers.”

These baseline figures ― some of which are rather surprising ― aren’t meant to answer any specific question or solve any particular problem, Becker said. Instead, they’ll help shape upcoming transportation projects and be a useful tool for “decision-makers tasked with allocating limited resources to plan for the future.”

The data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau and a large-scale modeling program called Replica. Find the full report at sbcag.org. Here are some of its key takeaways:

COVID and Commuting: Since the pandemic, overall vehicle miles traveled has dropped by 8.9 percent. Meanwhile, remote work surged by more than 150 percent, with an average of approximately 25,000 county residents now working from home.

Big Bucks, Less Office: The more you make, the more likely you are to work from home, the data shows. Nearly a third of all remote workers in Santa Barbara County ― 30 percent ― reported a household income of over $200k. 

The Silver Tsunami: Over the past 20 years, the number of residents between the ages of 30-39 and 40-49 shrank by 7 percent and 15 percent, respectively. The 0-9 group also dropped by 2 percent. Meanwhile, the number of residents between 60-69 jumped 71 percent; the 70-79 cohort increased 27 percent; and 80+ went up by 34 percent.

Where Are the New Jobs? Since 2010, Goleta has netted more new jobs than any other jurisdiction, with approximately 5,400 new positions added. Santa Maria was second with around 4,900 new jobs. Santa Barbara added almost 2,000. On the other end of the spectrum, Solvang and Guadalupe both lost approximately 250 jobs.

Where Is the New Housing? Santa Maria led the way with 8,266 new housing units built since 2000. The unincorporated areas of the county saw 3,854 units go up in the same time period. Goleta added 1,703, Santa Barbara created 1,597, and Carpinteria built the fewest with 259. 

Rentals Still Nil: Overall vacancy rates tumbled approximately 40 percent in the past decade, leaving just 1.1 percent of rental units available in 2022.

Working Where You Live: The majority of people who work in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria ― 66 percent ― actually live in those cities. However, in Buellton and Guadalupe, less than 20 percent of workers live there. The trend continues in Solvang and Goleta, where many commuters come from outside those cities.

Longest and Shortest Commutes: Buellton produces the longest work commutes in the region at an average of 25.9 miles, while Santa Barbara has the shortest average work commutes at 8.9 miles.

Ventura Workers vs. Visitors: On an average weekday, around 38,500 Ventura County residents travel to Santa Barbara County. Out of those trips, approximately 11,100 are for work with the rest for shopping, recreation, or seeing friends and family. More than half of the work commuters have household incomes greater than $100k.

Take 101 or 154? The majority of drivers traveling south on Highway 101 ― 62 percent ― choose to take State Route 154 over continuing on the 101. Interestingly, fewer drivers ― 54 percent ― choose the 154 when heading north.