Work & commute · Eastern Goleta Valley

Work & commute in Eastern Goleta Valley, CA

Most working residents leave Eastern Goleta Valley for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Santa Barbara (35%), Goleta (17%) and Los Angeles (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

975 of 10,984 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 10,009 Eastern Goleta Valley residents head out of town to work, 975 work right here, and 7,496 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Eastern Goleta Valley.

10,009live here, work elsewhere

975live and work here

7,496work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Eastern Goleta Valley goes to work

Santa Barbara5 mi away

35%3,889

Goleta4.4 mi away

17%1,814

Eastern Goleta Valley (in town)right here

9%975

Los Angeles83.8 mi away

4%430

University of California-Santa Barbara4.2 mi away

3%286

Montecito8.8 mi away

2%197

San Buenaventura (Ventura)32.7 mi away

2%172

Carpinteria16.3 mi away

1%152

Oxnard37.1 mi away

1%146

Santa Maria50.3 mi away

1%134

Everywhere elseother towns and states

25%2,789

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Eastern Goleta Valley commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

66%

24%

66%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Eastern Goleta Valley is balanced between jobs and homes

0.77jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Eastern Goleta Valley are

8,471 jobs are based in Eastern Goleta Valley. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Eastern Goleta Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Eastern Goleta Valley

8,471 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Eastern Goleta Valley residents hold

10,984 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+13%

Jobs based in Eastern Goleta Valley, 2013 → 2023: 7,529 → 8,471. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.