Buellton vs Montecito

A side-by-side comparison of Buellton and Montecito: population, income, housing, and more.

Buellton and Montecito are places in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Montecito has the higher population (8,823 vs 5,090 in Buellton). Montecito has the higher median household income ($222,966 vs $96,028 in Buellton). Montecito has the higher median home value ($2,000,001 vs $704,200 in Buellton).

Population, income & housing

	Buellton	Montecito
Population	5,090	8,823
Median age	37.6 yrs	51.8 yrs
Median household income	$96,028	$222,966
Median home value	$704,200	$2,000,001
Median gross rent	$2,196	$3,501
Housing units	2,230	4,143
Homeownership rate	60.6%	73.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher	40.1%	74.9%
Unemployment rate	2.6%	4.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Buellton	Montecito
Population	5,082 → 5,090 (+0.2%)	8,245 → 8,823 (+7.0%)
Median household income	$93,099 → $96,028 (+3.1%)	$159,706 → $222,966 (+39.6%)
Median home value	$522,900 → $704,200 (+34.7%)	$2,000,001 → $2,000,001 (+0.0%)
Median gross rent	$1,760 → $2,196 (+24.8%)	$2,404 → $3,501 (+45.6%)

Buellton

Population

5,0825,090

Median household income

$93,099$96,028

Median home value

$522,900$704,200

Median gross rent

$1,760$2,196

Montecito

Population

8,2458,823

Median household income

$159,706$222,966

Median home value

$2,000,001$2,000,001

Median gross rent

$2,404$3,501

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Buellton	Montecito
Under 5	9.5%	2.5%
5 to 17	14.1%	11.9%
18 to 24	4.9%	16.5%
25 to 34	15.6%	4.8%
35 to 44	17.2%	8.0%
45 to 54	10.5%	8.9%
55 to 64	15.2%	13.8%
65 to 74	6.8%	14.0%
75 and over	6.2%	19.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Buellton	Montecito
White (non-Hispanic)	72.2%	81.1%
Black or African American	0.3%	0.1%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.6%	2.8%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.2%	0.0%
Some other race	0.3%	0.3%
Two or more races	2.6%	6.9%
Hispanic or Latino	23.7%	8.9%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Buellton	Montecito
No high school diploma	6.0%	1.7%
High school graduate	13.0%	5.3%
Some college or associate's	41.0%	18.2%
Bachelor's degree	26.2%	40.1%
Graduate or professional degree	13.9%	34.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Buellton	Montecito
Drove alone	75.2%	52.2%
Carpooled	9.7%	3.9%
Public transit	1.3%	0.7%
Walked	1.0%	10.5%
Bicycle	0.5%	0.4%
Worked from home	10.6%	29.9%
Other means	1.6%	2.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Buellton	Montecito
1-unit, detached	53.7%	76.1%
1-unit, attached	14.3%	10.5%
2 to 4 units	0.4%	4.7%
5 to 19 units	6.5%	6.8%
20 or more units	8.3%	2.0%
Mobile home & other	16.9%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Buellton	Montecito
Poverty rate	2.9%	7.8%
Average household size	2.63	2.29
Mean commute (minutes)	30	18
Median year structure built	1993	1969