Best PlacesWestside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Westside-Santa Barbara, 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.
Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara ranks 3,250th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Westside-Santa Barbara, 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.
Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara's strengths and weaknesses
Where Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 246 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- Short commute16.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 10% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$1,613 a month, better than only 16% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
A household needs to earn about $294,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $87,405, 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 Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
Westside-Santa Barbara, 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 Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara.
Who works in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, and how
Work in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
The coast is about 2 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, month by month
Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara sees roughly 246 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 Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
The nearest airport, Santa Barbara Municipal, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
Schools across Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara average a C, better than 42% of neighborhoods.
Top middle schools
- Santa Barbara Junior HighB+ · 50% proficient
- La Cumbre Junior HighF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Westside-Santa Barbara, 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 Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara suits
Families
Schools land around the 42nd percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara
Is Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara ranks 3,250th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on the weather, short commutes, and biking, and lowest on an overheated housing market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,166,168. The overall cost of living runs about 58% above the national average. Set against a $87,405 median income, cost of living beats 16% of neighborhoods.
Is Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara safe?
Yes, Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara is safer than 60% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $428 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara?
July highs average about 75 degrees, and January highs near 67 with lows near 41. That works out to about 246 pleasant days a year, more than 94% of neighborhoods.
Is Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara good for families?
Schools beat 42% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,613 a month.
Compare Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Westside-Santa Barbara, 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.
Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Westside-Santa Barbara, 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.