Avila Beach vs Santa Margarita

A side-by-side comparison of Avila Beach and Santa Margarita: population, income, housing, and more.

Avila Beach and Santa Margarita are places in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Avila Beach has the higher population (1,365 vs 665 in Santa Margarita). Avila Beach has the higher median home value ($1,247,300 vs $643,100 in Santa Margarita). Since 2019, Avila Beach's population has grown faster (+4.1% vs -40.7%).

Population, income & housing

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
Population	1,365	665
Median age	59.7 yrs	62.3 yrs
Median household income	$185,363	—
Median home value	$1,247,300	$643,100
Median gross rent	$2,177	$634
Housing units	923	459
Homeownership rate	83.4%	34.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher	79.7%	50.2%
Unemployment rate	0.0%	0.0%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
Population	1,311 → 1,365 (+4.1%)	1,122 → 665 (-40.7%)
Median household income	$80,281 → $185,363 (+130.9%)	—
Median home value	$1,034,500 → $1,247,300 (+20.6%)	$525,300 → $643,100 (+22.4%)
Median gross rent	$1,507 → $2,177 (+44.5%)	$978 → $634 (-35.2%)

Avila Beach

Population

1,3111,365

Median household income

$80,281$185,363

Median home value

$1,034,500$1,247,300

Median gross rent

$1,507$2,177

Santa Margarita

Population

1,122665

Median home value

$525,300$643,100

Median gross rent

$978$634

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
Under 5	1.7%	0.0%
5 to 17	0.9%	0.0%
18 to 24	13.9%	4.7%
25 to 34	3.7%	23.5%
35 to 44	2.1%	15.3%
45 to 54	2.0%	0.0%
55 to 64	38.3%	21.4%
65 to 74	22.1%	6.8%
75 and over	15.3%	28.4%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
White (non-Hispanic)	92.9%	82.6%
Black or African American	0.0%	0.0%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	0.0%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.0%	0.0%
Two or more races	0.0%	9.6%
Hispanic or Latino	7.1%	7.8%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
No high school diploma	2.4%	2.1%
High school graduate	7.7%	39.3%
Some college or associate's	10.2%	8.5%
Bachelor's degree	41.6%	39.6%
Graduate or professional degree	38.2%	10.6%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
Drove alone	40.9%	36.3%
Carpooled	0.0%	26.1%
Public transit	0.0%	0.0%
Walked	8.3%	0.0%
Bicycle	0.0%	3.3%
Worked from home	50.8%	34.3%
Other means	0.0%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
1-unit, detached	63.7%	48.1%
1-unit, attached	11.7%	0.0%
2 to 4 units	19.0%	0.0%
5 to 19 units	0.0%	0.0%
20 or more units	2.6%	0.0%
Mobile home & other	3.0%	51.9%

Poverty & households

	Avila Beach	Santa Margarita
Poverty rate	9.3%	2.1%
Average household size	2.12	1.53
Mean commute (minutes)	13	20
Median year structure built	1999	1986