2025 Compare Cities Cost of Living:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Columbia, MO

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Highlights
Is it cheaper to live in Columbia or is it cheaper to live in Santa Barbara?
- Columbia is 41.8% less expensive than Santa Barbara.

Which city has more affordable housing, Columbia or Santa Barbara?
- Columbia housing costs are 83.5% less expensive than Santa Barbara housing costs.

Is Health Care more affordable in Santa Barbara or is Health Care more affordable in Columbia.
- Health related expenses are 10.2% more in Columbia.
 Santa Barbara, CAColumbia, MOUnited States
 Overall  Unlock90.0100
 Food & Groceries113.8  Unlock100
 Health  Unlock124.8100
 Housing476.7  Unlock100
 Median Home Cost  Unlock$269,200$338,100
 Utilities90  Unlock100
 Transportation  Unlock73.8100
 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 Columbia    41 Reviews

If you are an active person and love to be outdoors and go to college sporting events, Columbia is a great place to live! I run and bike and go to Mizzou events a lot. I  More

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Over 4 years ago

I've live in CoMo for 20 yrs. NOT sure about this state of the art water park??!! There are great parks but nothing else for families. NO zoo, museum, and definitely no  More

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I lived there for a year and hated every minute. Columbia reminded me of the San Francisco of the Midwest. It is overrun with homeless people. Law enforcement is  More

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