Work & commute · Santa Ynez

Work & commute in Santa Ynez, CA

Most working residents leave Santa Ynez for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Santa Barbara (14%), Solvang (10%) and Goleta (5%). Half commute less than 21 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

165 of 1,754 working residents

Typical commute

21 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

20%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,589 Santa Ynez residents head out of town to work, 165 work right here, and 1,189 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Santa Ynez.

1,589live here, work elsewhere

165live and work here

1,189work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Santa Ynez goes to work

Santa Barbara26.3 mi away

14%248

Solvang3 mi away

10%183

Santa Ynez (in town)right here

9%165

Goleta18.5 mi away

5%95

Buellton5.6 mi away

4%76

Los Angeles104.7 mi away

4%63

Eastern Goleta Valley21.3 mi away

3%56

Los Olivos3.3 mi away

3%50

Santa Maria29.4 mi away

2%39

Lompoc21.5 mi away

2%35

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%744

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

How far

How far Santa Ynez commutes

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

38%

18%

14%

29%

38%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

29%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Santa Ynez 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 Santa Ynez are

1,354 jobs are based in Santa Ynez. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Santa Ynez’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Santa Ynez

1,354 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Santa Ynez residents hold

1,754 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+53%

Jobs based in Santa Ynez, 2013 → 2023: 883 → 1,354. 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.