2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Santa Barbara, CA vs Half Moon Bay, CA

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Highlights
- Household income in Half Moon Bay, is 54% more than it is in Santa Barbara and is 50% above the National Average.
- Santa Barbara unemployment rate is 4.1%.
- Half Moon Bay unemployment rate is 5.0%.
 Santa Barbara, CAHalf Moon Bay, CAUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock5.0%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock1.3%1.6%
 Future Job Growth28.2%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes8.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock8.0%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$54,426  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$137,346$69,021
 Family Median Income$118,228  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Santa Barbara, CAHalf Moon Bay, CAUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock4.5%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K2.8%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock4.1%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K5.4%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock4.5%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.4%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock4.2%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.4%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock22.3%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K10.4%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock31.9%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Santa Barbara, CAHalf Moon Bay, CAUnited States
 Management, business, finance19.8%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock7.3%6.5%
 Community, social services2.1%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock2.3%1.2%
 Education, library5.8%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock4.7%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology6.1%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock2.5%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement0.9%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock5.1%5.4%
 Building maintenance5.9%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.6%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.0%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.7%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair5.5%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock10.0%13.1%
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 Half Moon Bay    3 Reviews

HMB has one of the best climates in the world. It also has some very good restaurants. You have the ocean on one side and scenic foothills to the east.It would be heaven  More

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Over 19 years ago

Rural coastal living in a great community close to San Francisco and Silicon  More

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Over 20 years ago

I lived in HMB for 17 years and loved (almost) every minute there. Beautiful hills to the east of the town and the Pacific ocean to the west. Close to San Francisco,  More

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