A typical home in each town, bought with 20% down at 6.3% for 30 years, plus property tax at the town’s own rate and insurance. Change the numbers to fit you.

Down paymentRate%

Santa Barbara$10,290/mo

Typical home $1.82M (Zillow) · tax rate 0.48% · or rent about $2,413/mo · Housing →

Pasadena$6,850/mo

Typical home $1.19M (Zillow) · tax rate 0.63% · or rent about $2,265/mo · Housing →

The difference: $3,450 a month, about $41,400 a year, between Santa Barbara and Pasadena.

Estimates, not a quote: your price, rate, tax bill and insurance will differ. Tax rate = the Census median tax bill over the median home value.

Report cards

Pasadena places higher on 17 of 26 CA lists

Our letter grades for safety, schools and health, then every California ranking list both towns are on. A grade is one measure; read the page behind it.

Safety

C−Santa BarbaraSafer than 15% of U.S. towns DPasadenaSafer than 13% of U.S. towns

Schools

CSanta BarbaraBetter than 27% of districts in the state B+PasadenaBetter than 67% of districts in the state

Health

A−Santa BarbaraHealthier than 79% of U.S. towns A−PasadenaHealthier than 83% of U.S. towns

8Santa Barbara

17Pasadena

Lists won, of 26 where both are ranked. Ties go to nobody.

Best schoolsSchools · 574 towns #519#150 Highest graduation rateSchools · 720 towns #211#599 Lowest depressionHealth · 844 towns #420#99 Shortest commuteGetting around · 843 towns #38#352 Most walkableOutdoors · 841 towns #560#252 Most trailsOutdoors · 677 towns #410#199 Closest to a top hospitalHealth · 844 towns #76#245 Most library borrowingLibraries · 117 towns #40#62

Left end = #1 in California. Showing the lists where the towns are furthest apart. All of Santa Barbara’s rankings →

Life in each

What daily life feels like in each

The weather, the land, the history and the people, row by row. None of it is a grade: more snow is a plus to a skier.

Seasons

Santa BarbaraPasadena

Snow a year0″0″

January low47°F —

July high76°F —

Growing season (days)365d —

Hazard risk (U.S. pctl)97th 91st

Outdoors & history

Santa BarbaraPasadena

Trails34 mi 40 mi

Conserved land7.2%13.5%

Settled1847 1886

National Register places19 124

Archive photos18 36

Famous people born here46 —

Community

Santa BarbaraPasadena

Library hours a week38 hrs 54 hrs

Colleges in town6 9

Posts this month0 0

Neighbors joined0 1

A dot marks the most on each row. Climate: NOAA 1991–2020 normals at the nearest station. Hazard risk: FEMA National Risk Index, expected yearly damage vs U.S. towns.

Where they are

92 miles apart

Straight-line miles between town centers.

Santa BarbaraCA PasadenaCA

Santa Barbara ↔ Pasadena92 miles apart

Everything, side by side

What matters to you?

Pick a few. Those rows jump to the top and the best fit on each is marked. There’s no overall score: what matters is up to you.

Only big differences vs California average

Santa BarbaraPasadena

People

Population 87,779Lowest 136,969Highest

Growth since 20102010 → 2020 census +0.3%Lowest CA: +6.1% +1.2%Highest CA: +6.1%

Median age 39.7±1.1Lowest 5% above CA 40.1±0.6Highest 6% above CA

Pasadena and Santa Barbara are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Kids under 18 17.7%±1.2Highest CA: 22% 16.7%±0.9Lowest CA: 22%

Santa Barbara and Pasadena are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Age 65+ 20.6%±1.1Highest CA: 15.7% 17.4%±0.8Lowest CA: 15.7%

Bachelor’s degree+adults 25+ 51.9%Lowest CA: 37.1% 56.1%Highest CA: 37.1%

Enrolled in collegeshare of residents 8.7%±1Highest CA: 7.6% 7.7%±0.6Lowest CA: 7.6%

Santa Barbara and Pasadena are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Cost of living

Household incomemedian $106,182±$6kHighest 7% above CA $105,192±$3kLowest 6% above CA

Santa Barbara and Pasadena are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Home valuemedian, owner-occupied $1,570,800±$59kHighest 114% above CA $1,093,300±$25kLowest 49% above CA

Rentmedian gross, monthly $2,413±$62Highest 19% above CA $2,265±$38Lowest 11% above CA

Property taxmedian, yearly $7,498Highest 46% above CA $6,843Lowest 34% above CA

Renters paying 30%+of income on rent 55.7%±3.6Highest CA: 55.3% 52.9%±2.9Lowest CA: 55.3%

Santa Barbara and Pasadena are within the Census margin of error here, so we can’t say which is really higher.

Below poverty line 14%Highest CA: 12% 13.3%Lowest CA: 12%

Housing

Homeownersof occupied homes 39.9%Lowest CA: 55.9% 42.5%Highest CA: 55.9%

Typical home builtmedian year 1965Highest 11 yrs older than CA 1961Lowest 15 yrs older than CA

Getting to work

Average commuteone way 17 minLowest 40% below CA 27 minHighest 6% below CA

Work from home 18.9%±1.8Lowest CA: 17.2% 27.6%±1.5Highest CA: 17.2%

Work in townworking residents 43.3%Highest 20.3%Lowest

Typical commute distancemedian, straight-line 5.3 miLowest 10.8 miHighest

Jobs per working residentover 1.5 = a job hub 1.43Lowest 1.76Highest

Top workplaceoutside town Goleta (12%)Los Angeles (29%)

Between these townsresidents who work in the others Few work in PasadenaFew work in Santa Barbara

Outdoors

Conserved landshare of the town 7.2%Lowest 13.5%Highest

Trailsmapped miles 33.7 miLowest 39.8 miHighest

Trail densitymiles per sq mi 0.9 miLowest 1.7 miHighest

Parks & preservesnamed on the map 47Highest 31Lowest

Street connectivityintersections per sq mi, a walkability measure 48.9Lowest 98.2Highest

Schools

Public school scoresrank in state, math + reading #519 of 574 in CA #150 of 574 in CA

School district Santa Barbara Unified · Hope ElementaryLearning Works District · Pasadena Rosebud Academy District

High school in town Santa Barbara Senior HighOptions For Youth - Duarte Inc

Students per teacherat that high school 19.5Lowest 28.0Highest

California average“±” Census margin of errorACS 2020–2024

Deciding?

Ask the people who live there

The numbers stop at the town line. Neighbors can tell you about the commute at 7am, the schools, the winters and the feel of the place.

Santa Barbara neighborsTown Square →

Your question goes to Santa Barbara’s Town Square.

Pasadena neighborsTown Square →

T Weaver · 5d

Living in Pasadena

1 neighbor in Pasadena can answer.

Add a town

Set another town beside Santa Barbara and Pasadena

One tap adds it. Up to 4 towns at once.

Bordering Santa Barbara

+ Compare

Montecito9,031 people · $2M homes

+ Compare

Eastern Goleta Valley28,295 people · $1.36M homes

+ Compare

Mission Canyon2,357 people · $2M homes

+ Compare

Goleta32,685 people · $1.06M homes

Towns like Santa Barbara

+ Compare

Burbank104,546 people · $1.09M homes

+ Compare

Costa Mesa110,330 people · $1.12M homes

+ Compare

Redwood City82,447 people · $1.8M homes

+ Compare

Tustin78,981 people · $950K homes

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2010 & 2020 censuses, LEHD commute flows; Zillow Home Value Index; NCES Common Core of Data; FBI crime reporting; CDC PLACES; FEMA National Risk Index; NOAA U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020; USGS PAD-US and OpenStreetMap. “±” is the Census margin of error; differences inside it are never called. Property tax is top-coded by the Census at $10,000+. There is no overall score: which town is better depends on what matters to you.

Santa Barbara vs Pasadena

Two towns, two different strengths

Where they differ most

A typical home costs $3,450 more a month in Santa Barbara

Pasadena places higher on 17 of 26 CA lists

What daily life feels like in each

92 miles apart

What matters to you?

Ask the people who live there

Living in Pasadena

Set another town beside Santa Barbara and Pasadena

Bordering Santa Barbara

Towns like Santa Barbara

Post to Santa Barbara

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