2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Ellicott City, MD vs Santa Barbara, CA

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Santa Barbara or is it cheaper to live in Ellicott City?
- Santa Barbara is 21.0% more expensive than Ellicott City.

Which city has more affordable housing, Santa Barbara or Ellicott City?
- Santa Barbara housing costs are 134.7% more expensive than Ellicott City housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Ellicott City or is Health Care more affordable in Santa Barbara.
- Health related expenses are 30.9% more in Santa Barbara.
 Ellicott City, MDSanta Barbara, CAUnited States
 Overall  Unlock154.7100
 Food & Groceries107.7  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock113.2100
 Housing203.1  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$1,525,500$338,100
 Utilities109  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock97.0100
 Miscellaneous151.8  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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Reviews for Ellicott City    4 Reviews

Over 12 years ago

Ellicott City has many great  More

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Plenty of jobs in Washington, DC. and Baltimore areas. Low unemployment. Education and recreation is a top priority with most families here. Relatively high standard of  More

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Over 18 years ago

Ellicott City, MD is west of Baltimore City, north of Washington, DC, east of Frederick, MD. We are close to BWI, and DC airports. There are a couple of big malls for  More

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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 4 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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