Santa Barbara County vs Solano County

A side-by-side comparison of Santa Barbara County and Solano County: population, income, housing, and more.

Santa Barbara County and Solano County are counties in California. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Solano County has the higher population (450,824 vs 443,975 in Santa Barbara County). Solano County has the higher median household income ($99,994 vs $95,977 in Santa Barbara County). Santa Barbara County has the higher median home value ($735,700 vs $589,600 in Solano County).

Population, income & housing

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
Population	443,975	450,824
Median age	34.5 yrs	39.1 yrs
Median household income	$95,977	$99,994
Median home value	$735,700	$589,600
Median gross rent	$2,050	$2,088
Housing units	159,766	163,455
Homeownership rate	52.9%	63.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.9%	28.4%
Unemployment rate	6.1%	5.9%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
Population	444,829 → 443,975 (-0.2%)	441,829 → 450,824 (+2.0%)
Median household income	$74,624 → $95,977 (+28.6%)	$81,472 → $99,994 (+22.7%)
Median home value	$577,400 → $735,700 (+27.4%)	$406,900 → $589,600 (+44.9%)
Median gross rent	$1,643 → $2,050 (+24.8%)	$1,592 → $2,088 (+31.2%)

Santa Barbara County

Population

444,829443,975

Median household income

$74,624$95,977

Median home value

$577,400$735,700

Median gross rent

$1,643$2,050

Solano County

Population

441,829450,824

Median household income

$81,472$99,994

Median home value

$406,900$589,600

Median gross rent

$1,592$2,088

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
Under 5	6.1%	5.8%
5 to 17	16.4%	16.3%
18 to 24	14.8%	8.3%
25 to 34	13.3%	14.1%
35 to 44	11.7%	13.6%
45 to 54	10.4%	12.0%
55 to 64	11.1%	13.1%
65 to 74	9.1%	10.4%
75 and over	7.1%	6.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
White (non-Hispanic)	41.5%	34.3%
Black or African American	1.5%	12.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.3%
Asian	5.1%	15.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.8%
Some other race	0.4%	0.9%
Two or more races	3.5%	6.6%
Hispanic or Latino	47.6%	29.0%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
No high school diploma	17.9%	11.1%
High school graduate	16.9%	24.3%
Some college or associate's	29.4%	36.2%
Bachelor's degree	21.6%	19.4%
Graduate or professional degree	14.2%	9.0%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
Drove alone	65.3%	74.2%
Carpooled	11.9%	10.4%
Public transit	2.3%	1.9%
Walked	3.9%	1.3%
Bicycle	2.5%	0.3%
Worked from home	12.5%	10.9%
Other means	1.5%	1.2%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
1-unit, detached	56.6%	71.1%
1-unit, attached	8.0%	4.5%
2 to 4 units	8.8%	7.4%
5 to 19 units	13.4%	7.5%
20 or more units	8.5%	6.6%
Mobile home & other	4.6%	2.8%

Poverty & households

	Santa Barbara County	Solano County
Poverty rate	13.8%	9.7%
Average household size	2.83	2.83
Mean commute (minutes)	21	32
Median year structure built	1974	1982