Santa Barbara County vs Sonoma County

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

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

Sonoma County has the higher population (485,642 vs 443,975 in Santa Barbara County). Sonoma County has the higher median household income ($102,840 vs $95,977 in Santa Barbara County). Sonoma County has the higher median home value ($779,000 vs $735,700 in Santa Barbara County).

Population, income & housing

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
Population	443,975	485,642
Median age	34.5 yrs	42.7 yrs
Median household income	$95,977	$102,840
Median home value	$735,700	$779,000
Median gross rent	$2,050	$2,093
Housing units	159,766	206,319
Homeownership rate	52.9%	62.2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	35.9%	37.8%
Unemployment rate	6.1%	5.2%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
Population	444,829 → 443,975 (-0.2%)	499,772 → 485,642 (-2.8%)
Median household income	$74,624 → $95,977 (+28.6%)	$81,018 → $102,840 (+26.9%)
Median home value	$577,400 → $735,700 (+27.4%)	$609,600 → $779,000 (+27.8%)
Median gross rent	$1,643 → $2,050 (+24.8%)	$1,621 → $2,093 (+29.1%)

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

Sonoma County

Population

499,772485,642

Median household income

$81,018$102,840

Median home value

$609,600$779,000

Median gross rent

$1,621$2,093

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
Under 5	6.1%	4.7%
5 to 17	16.4%	14.6%
18 to 24	14.8%	7.8%
25 to 34	13.3%	12.4%
35 to 44	11.7%	13.2%
45 to 54	10.4%	12.4%
55 to 64	11.1%	13.9%
65 to 74	9.1%	12.8%
75 and over	7.1%	8.2%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
White (non-Hispanic)	41.5%	59.1%
Black or African American	1.5%	1.5%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.2%	0.3%
Asian	5.1%	4.3%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.1%	0.3%
Some other race	0.4%	0.5%
Two or more races	3.5%	4.6%
Hispanic or Latino	47.6%	29.4%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
No high school diploma	17.9%	11.1%
High school graduate	16.9%	18.6%
Some college or associate's	29.4%	32.4%
Bachelor's degree	21.6%	23.5%
Graduate or professional degree	14.2%	14.3%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
Drove alone	65.3%	71.0%
Carpooled	11.9%	9.2%
Public transit	2.3%	1.0%
Walked	3.9%	2.4%
Bicycle	2.5%	0.7%
Worked from home	12.5%	14.4%
Other means	1.5%	1.4%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
1-unit, detached	56.6%	67.0%
1-unit, attached	8.0%	7.7%
2 to 4 units	8.8%	6.7%
5 to 19 units	13.4%	6.8%
20 or more units	8.5%	7.1%
Mobile home & other	4.6%	4.7%

Poverty & households

	Santa Barbara County	Sonoma County
Poverty rate	13.8%	8.6%
Average household size	2.83	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	21	25
Median year structure built	1974	1979