2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Champaign, IL

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Champaign or is it cheaper to live in Santa Barbara?
- Champaign is 47.6% less expensive than Santa Barbara.

Which city has more affordable housing, Champaign or Santa Barbara?
- Champaign housing costs are 88.5% less expensive than Santa Barbara housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Santa Barbara or is Health Care more affordable in Champaign.
- Health related expenses are 1.6% less in Champaign.
 Santa Barbara, CAChampaign, ILUnited States
 Overall  Unlock81.1100
 Food & Groceries113.8  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock111.4100
 Housing476.7  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$190,400$338,100
 Utilities90  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock69.4100
 Miscellaneous142.5  Unlock100
100 = National Average (Below 100 means cheaper than the US average. Above 100 means more expensive.)
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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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Reviews for Champaign    13 Reviews

Over 6 years ago

Pros - close to Chicago, has Parkland community college and lots of places to eat. There is a train station downtown that is really good. Beautiful deciduous trees and  More

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Over 8 years ago

I wonderful city with great  More

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Actually it's barely a nice place to live. The pros: Not terribly expensive - at one point the least expensive place to live in the country among modest sized  More

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