Santa Barbara County, CA
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 34.54, -120.04.
Assembled 2026-10-07. Read the brief.
- 99th pct · 20th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 87th pct · 8th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 61st pct · 1,172nd of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 89th pct · 7th of 58 California counties · median +0.3%
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 98th pct · 24th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 87th pct · 7th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 95th pct · 153rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 73rd pct · 16th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 90th pct · 314th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 71st pct · 17th of 58 California counties · median $1,206
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
- 99th pct · 27th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 92nd pct · 5th of 58 California counties · median 7.4
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $991,951 (Aug 2026), +4.0% over one year, +30.7% over five
- 99th pct · 20th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 87th pct · 8th of 58 California counties · median $500,264
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | $991,951 · +4.0% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Typical rent $3,200/mo (Aug 2026), +3.0% over one year; price-to-rent 25.8
- 98th pct · 24th of 1,399 US counties · median $1,496
- 87th pct · 7th of 49 California counties · median $2,340
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | $3,200/mo · +3.0% 1-yr |
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $5,430 a month on $991,951 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $6,171 a month: 88.0% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $991,951 × 80% = $793,560, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $5,430/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,424 × 52 / 12 = $6,171) = 88% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $991,951 / ($1,424 × 52) = 13.4
- price-to-rent = $991,951 / ($3,200 × 12) = 25.8
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
211,778 jobs at 18,434 employers (2026 Q1); +1.0% jobs and +1.6% average weekly wage over the year
- 95th pct · 153rd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 73rd pct · 16th of 58 California counties · median 74,865
- counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro: Rank context is unavailable: the manifest lists 1 counties in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro; fewer than 5 is too few to rank.
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 211,778 jobs · $1,424/wk · +1.0% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 29,238 | $1,427 | 0.92 | +1.6% |
| Agriculture, forestry, fishing | 26,856 | $680 | 17.56 | +13.1% |
| Accommodation and food services | 24,046 | $700 | 1.26 | -0.2% |
| Retail trade | 17,818 | $843 | 0.86 | -1.5% |
| Manufacturing | 11,857 | $2,028 | 0.70 | -2.7% |
| Professional and technical services | 11,743 | $2,927 | 0.80 | -3.9% |
| Construction | 10,008 | $1,437 | 0.90 | -1.1% |
| Administrative and waste services | 8,702 | $1,073 | 0.72 | -0.3% |
| Other services | 6,714 | $1,009 | 1.06 | +1.4% |
| Wholesale trade | 4,226 | $1,988 | 0.52 | -0.8% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 4,197 | $733 | 1.20 | +2.2% |
| Information | 3,579 | $3,631 | 0.92 | -4.0% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$14.1 bn in deposits at 87 offices of 20 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 1,175, moderately concentrated. $3.2 bn federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $2.3 bn, contracts $620.2 m), $15,100 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $2.6 bn · 18.2% share · 9 offices | |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2.2 bn · 15.8% share · 9 offices | |
| Bank of America, National Association | $2.1 bn · 15.2% share · 7 offices | |
| Santa Barbara, CA | $3.2 bn FY2026 · $15,100/job | |
| MULTIPLE RECIPIENTS | $2.1 bn · top recipient FY2026 |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | $2,565,683,000 | 18.2% | 9 |
| Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $2,223,564,000 | 15.8% | 9 |
| Bank of America, National Association | $2,140,174,000 | 15.2% | 7 |
| U.S. Bank National Association | $1,601,258,000 | 11.4% | 11 |
| Montecito Bank & Trust | $1,471,170,000 | 10.4% | 12 |
| Mechanics Bank | $1,065,060,000 | 7.6% | 12 |
| American Riviera Bank | $780,296,000 | 5.5% | 4 |
| Columbia Bank | $619,462,000 | 4.4% | 2 |
| Community Bank of Santa Maria | $350,357,000 | 2.5% | 2 |
| Community West Bank | $321,030,000 | 2.3% | 4 |
Deposit concentration is 1,175 across 20 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls moderately concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 20 banks with deposits in the county = 18.2² + 15.8² + 15.2² + … (17 more) = 1,175
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
USAspending place-of-performance obligations for FY2026, by awarding agency.
| Awarding agency | Obligations |
|---|---|
| Social Security Administration | $1,870,987,764 |
| Department of Defense | $521,713,427 |
| Department of Veterans Affairs | $206,017,041 |
| Department of Housing and Urban Development | $168,784,145 |
| Department of Transportation | $103,942,755 |
| Department of Education | $72,681,058 |
| Department of Agriculture | $69,256,935 |
| National Science Foundation | $58,030,104 |
| Department of Health and Human Services | $56,126,271 |
| Department of the Interior | $15,973,276 |
| Department of Energy | $13,660,745 |
| Department of Justice | $12,624,948 |
That is $15,100 per covered job, against 211,778 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $3.2 bn / 211,778 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $15,100
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 12.69 | 2026-10-05 | +3.3% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.60 | 2026-10-06 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 3.00 | 2026-10-06 | -50.0% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 7,848.00 | 2026-09-01 | +14.9% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 96.16 | 2026-09-29 | -3.2% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.28 | 2026-10-01 | +3.6% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 646,347.00 | 2026-08-01 | +1.1% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Santa Barbara County, CA: 15 findings, 4 at a watch level and 11 noted
watchSanta Barbara County, CA's years of wages of 13.4 ranks 27th of 3,063 US counties, a watch level here: years of wages in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: yearsOfWages percentile = 99.1508817766166 >= 90
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the counties that published both a ZHVI value and a QCEW average weekly wage; not an official level
watchSanta Barbara County, CA's price-to-rent ratio of 25.8 ranks 71st of 1,399 US counties, a watch level here: price-to-rent in the top tenth of US counties (position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: priceToRent percentile = 94.9928469241774 >= 90
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
position among the counties that published both ZHVI and ZORI this month; not an official level
watchSanta Barbara County, CA's years of wages is 13.4, a watch level here: typical home value worth 10 or more years of one average covered wage (typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: yearsOfWages = 13.39604771829624 >= 10
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52), one average covered job rather than a household; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
watchSanta Barbara County, CA's price-to-rent ratio is 25.8, a watch level here: typical home value worth 25 or more years of typical rent (typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- test: priceToRent = 25.835426929538514 >= 25
- typical home value / (typical rent × 12); Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month
typical home value / (typical rent × 12), Zillow ZHVI over ZORI, same month; convention chosen for this dashboard, not an official level
noteSanta Barbara County, CA's average weekly wage was 1.6% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +1.6 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
Read all 12 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.