Best PlacesLower East, Santa Barbara, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lower East, Santa Barbara, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lower East, Santa Barbara ranks 2,370th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and disaster risk is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lower East, Santa Barbara
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Lower East, Santa Barbara's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lower East, Santa Barbara ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 247 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 93% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 91% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
Where Lower East, Santa Barbara ranks low
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,613 a month, better than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of neighborhoods
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Lower East, Santa Barbara
A household needs to earn about $404,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lower East, Santa Barbara home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $91,702, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Lower East, Santa Barbara's effective rate of 0.57%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lower East, Santa Barbara
Lower East, Santa Barbara runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lower East, Santa Barbara.
Who works in Lower East, Santa Barbara, and how
Work in Lower East, Santa Barbara centers on education and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 20%
Life in Lower East, Santa Barbara
Lower East, Santa Barbara has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of neighborhoods. The coast is about 2 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Lower East, Santa Barbara and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Lower East, Santa Barbara, month by month
Lower East, Santa Barbara sees roughly 247 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 75 degrees. January highs sit near 67, with lows near 41. The comfortable stretch runs March through November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 67° | 54° | 41° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 75° | 65° | 57° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Lower East, Santa Barbara
The nearest airport, Santa Barbara Municipal, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lower East, Santa Barbara
Schools across Lower East, Santa Barbara average a B−, better than 65% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Adelante CharterD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Santa Barbara Junior HighB+ · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lower East, Santa Barbara school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lower East, Santa Barbara measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Lower East, Santa Barbara against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Lower East, Santa Barbara
Is Lower East, Santa Barbara a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lower East, Santa Barbara ranks 2,370th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, short commutes, and cell coverage, and lowest on disaster risk and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lower East, Santa Barbara expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,594,107. The overall cost of living runs about 61% above the national average. Set against a $91,702 median income, cost of living beats 18% of neighborhoods.
Is Lower East, Santa Barbara safe?
Lower East, Santa Barbara is safer than 34% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $699 per resident a year.
Compare Lower East, Santa Barbara with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lower East, Santa Barbara. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lower East, Santa Barbara represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Lower East, Santa Barbara detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lower East, Santa Barbara: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lower East, Santa Barbara: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lower East, Santa Barbara: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lower East, Santa Barbara: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lower East, Santa Barbara detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.