Eastside Santa Barbara leans heavily Democratic by roughly 44 points: about 72% of voters vote Democratic and 28% Republican.
About 41% of adults in Eastside Santa Barbara typically vote, below the U.S. average of about 62%. Among adults in Eastside Santa Barbara, ~30% vote Democratic, ~11% Republican, and ~59% don't vote. The map below shows estimated turnout by block group.
How Eastside Santa Barbara compares
Among neighborhoods within 5 miles, Eastside Santa Barbara is the least Democratic-leaning.
Eastside Santa Barbara runs about 23 points more Democratic than California as a whole.
Politics vary noticeably by block within Eastside Santa Barbara. The south side is the most Democratic-leaning (D+49) and the west side is the least Democratic-leaning (D+36), a spread of about 13 points.
Why Eastside Santa Barbara leans the way it does
This analysis examined 14,881 data points per neighborhood to find what predicts political lean and turnout. The items below are a few correlations that stood out for Eastside Santa Barbara, not a ranked or complete list of what matters most.
Dense areas vote Democratic. More than 99% of residents in Eastside Santa Barbara live in densely developed areas, about 64 points above the U.S. average of 36%.
High-school completion, developed land, and voter turnout
Places that combine low high-school-completion share and a heavily developed built environment tend to turn out at a lower rate, as Eastside Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA does.
Why turnout in Eastside Santa Barbara looks the way it does
Areas with limited routine healthcare access turn out at lower rates. Eastside Santa Barbara is in the bottom quarter nationally for routine-care measures such as insurance coverage, preventive screenings, and dental visits. Crowded housing lines up with lower turnout, and about 21% of homes in Eastside Santa Barbara have more than one occupant per room, above 98% of neighborhoods. Learn more about the findings and methodology on the political spectrum map.
Nearby Neighborhoods
- Lower East, Santa Barbara, CA D+57
- Riviera, Santa Barbara, CA D+49
- Waterfront, Santa Barbara, CA D+55
- Westside-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA D+52
- Mesa, Santa Barbara, CA D+52
- Las Positas, Santa Barbara, CA D+45
- Upper State, Santa Barbara, CA D+51
- Sea View Estates, Oxnard, CA D+22
- Sierra Linda, Oxnard, CA D+31
- South Bank, Oxnard, CA D+30
Neighborhoods with Similar Populations
- Stonemeade, Alafaya, FL D+6
- Wilshire Square, Santa Ana, CA D+28
- oakwood, Bedford, OH D+60
- Southwest Saginaw, Saginaw, MI D+27
- Charleston Historic District, Charleston, SC D+12
- Colonial Village, Sacramento, CA D+29
- Greenbush, Madison, WI D+71
- Oaks, Garland, TX D+7
- Cooper, Tulsa, OK D+11
- Youngsville, Manchester, NH Even
Sources and methodology
Precinct-level voting records used to fit the model come from California Secretary of State, Elections, distributed by the Voting and Election Science Team. Demographic inputs come from the U.S. Census Bureau (ACS 5-year estimates and the 2020 Decennial Census). Health and environmental inputs come from the CDC (PLACES and the Environmental Justice Index). Land cover comes from the USGS and EPA. Election-day and lead-up weather come from PRISM 4km daily grids and the NOAA Global Historical Climatology Network. Mail-voting and election-administration patterns come from the MIT Election Lab's Survey of the Performance of American Elections. Block-group crime detail comes from CrimeGrade. Internet data and modeling support provided by ISPreports.org.
Modeling and analysis by the BestNeighborhood data science team. Full methodology and findings: political spectrum map.
Methodology reviewed by the BestNeighborhood data team. Last updated May 2026.