2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Goleta, CA vs Petaluma, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Petaluma, is 4% less than it is in Goleta and is 31% above the National Average.
- Goleta unemployment rate is 3.9%.
- Petaluma unemployment rate is 5.0%.
 Goleta, CAPetaluma, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock5.0%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.7%1.6%
 Future Job Growth27.7%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes7.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$44,410  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$100,379$69,021
 Family Median Income$121,233  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Goleta, CAPetaluma, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock5.2%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K1.5%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock5.0%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K4.0%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock5.0%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K5.7%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock8.2%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.7%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock19.8%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K13.4%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock17.4%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Goleta, CAPetaluma, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance17.6%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock6.6%6.5%
 Community, social services1.6%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.3%1.2%
 Education, library10.5%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.5%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology5.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.2%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement0.8%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock6.3%5.4%
 Building maintenance5.1%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.6%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support16.8%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.4%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair5.3%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock9.5%13.1%
Reviews for Goleta    2 Reviews

Lived in this area 2014-now (2022), Goleta for 4 years of that. Pros: *The climate is unbeatable, unless you enjoy being overly hot or cold, or snow sports which  More

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I live in Goleta and work part-time in Santa Barbara. I am semi-retired and have a decent income. Making wise choices of where to spend my income has always been  More

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Reviews for Petaluma    16 Reviews

I agree with the low star reviews. Been here for 25 years, raised a family and seen everything turn to the left and worse. Weather is glorious, love the old Victorians  More

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We’ve lived here for 3 years and we love it. It has taken some time to grow on us. We moved from SF where we had lived over 15 years, we were not used to one year leases  More

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I’ve lived here a couple of years (after living in others parts of the Bay Area for 15+ years) and I love it! Great neighborhoods, friendly folks, good schools with  More

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