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2024 Compare Cities Economy:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Santa Cruz, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Santa Cruz, is 8% more than it is in Santa Barbara and is 28% above the National Average.
- Santa Barbara unemployment rate is 4.1%.
- Santa Cruz unemployment rate is 4.5%.

Economy
 Santa Barbara, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate4.1%4.5%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth0.8%1.8%1.6%
 Future Job Growth28.2%33.8%33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.8%9.3%6.2%
 Income Taxes8.0%8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$54,426$46,720$37,638
 Household Income$89,243$96,217$69,021
 Family Median Income$118,228$145,326$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Santa Barbara, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K8.4%10.7%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K2.8%3.6%3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K4.4%7.9%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.4%5.9%8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K7.3%4.6%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.4%3.8%7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K7.9%6.1%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.4%9.2%12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K16.1%16.1%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K10.4%11.5%7.8%
 Income greater than 200K19.6%20.7%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Santa Barbara, CASanta Cruz, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance19.8%17.4%16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science8.7%12.2%6.5%
 Community, social services2.1%2.9%1.8%
 Legal1.3%0.7%1.2%
 Education, library5.8%10.1%6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment3.3%4.3%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.1%6.3%6.2%
 Healthcare support3.7%1.9%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement0.9%1.3%2.1%
 Food preparation, serving8.3%9.9%5.4%
 Building maintenance5.9%2.2%3.6%
 Personal care2.2%3.3%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.0%18.1%20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry0.7%0.9%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair5.5%3.3%8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving6.7%5.2%13.1%

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Reviews for Santa Barbara    51 Reviews

I moved to Santa Barbara around 23 years ago to study at Brooks, which like most of the Santa Barbara that I knew—has been destroyed. Homelessness, drugs, gangs, high  More

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Over 3 years ago

I fell in love with Santa Barbara about thirty years ago and finally moved here a few years ago. Because of the price of homes, it is an expensive place to live. The  More

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If you like high crime, paying a $4,500 a month mortgage and crazy high taxes, this is the place for you. It’s too bad because it wasn’t always like this. When I moved  More

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Reviews for Santa Cruz    44 Reviews

I lived in the Santa Cruz area for 20 years. UCSC alum. Our kids were born there. There are wonderful things about Santa Cruz, but also many serious problems that we  More

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Over 4 years ago

I have been here for four generations! My kids are the fifth. I guess that should tell you how wonderful it is here, at least for us. It's so cool to have world class  More

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I was born over the hill in San Jose area, and as a kid I loved coming over to the boardwalk. Santa Cruz has always been and always will be a town of diversity,  More

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ZIPS IN SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA
93101 93105 93103 93110 93109
ZIPS IN SANTA CRUZ, CALIFORNIA
95060 95064

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