Work & commute · Goleta

Work & commute in Goleta, CA

About one in 4 of Goleta’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Santa Barbara (29%), Eastern Goleta Valley (6%) and University of California-Santa Barbara (6%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24%

3,199 of 13,109 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,910 Goleta residents head out of town to work, 3,199 work right here, and 18,147 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Goleta.

9,910live here, work elsewhere

3,199live and work here

18,147work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Goleta goes to work

Santa Barbara8.6 mi away

29%3,780

Goleta (in town)right here

24%3,199

Eastern Goleta Valley4.4 mi away

6%765

University of California-Santa Barbara1.4 mi away

6%736

Los Angeles87.6 mi away

3%458

San Buenaventura (Ventura)36.4 mi away

2%242

Santa Maria47.8 mi away

2%212

Montecito12.9 mi away

1%195

Carpinteria20.3 mi away

1%182

Oxnard40.6 mi away

1%174

Everywhere elseother towns and states

24%3,166

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

How far

How far Goleta commutes

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

56%

14%

22%

56%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Goleta is a job hub

1.63jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Goleta are

21,346 jobs are based in Goleta. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Goleta’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Goleta

21,346 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Goleta residents hold

13,109 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+10%

Jobs based in Goleta, 2013 → 2023: 19,458 → 21,346. 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.