Work & commute · Montecito

Work & commute in Montecito, CA

Most working residents leave Montecito for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Santa Barbara (31%), Los Angeles (6%) and Goleta (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

208 of 2,360 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

34%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,152 Montecito residents head out of town to work, 208 work right here, and 2,743 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Montecito.

2,152live here, work elsewhere

208live and work here

2,743work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Montecito goes to work

Santa Barbara4.7 mi away

31%738

Montecito (in town)right here

9%208

Los Angeles75.1 mi away

6%140

Goleta12.9 mi away

6%134

Eastern Goleta Valley8.8 mi away

3%76

San Buenaventura (Ventura)24 mi away

3%65

Carpinteria7.5 mi away

2%52

Oxnard28.6 mi away

2%48

San Francisco297.1 mi away

2%38

Thousand Oaks46 mi away

2%36

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%825

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

How far

How far Montecito commutes

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

47%

34%

47%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

34%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Montecito is balanced between jobs and homes

1.25jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Montecito are

2,951 jobs are based in Montecito. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Montecito’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Montecito

2,951 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)90%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Montecito residents hold

2,360 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

−2%

Jobs based in Montecito, 2013 → 2023: 3,021 → 2,951. 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.