Santa Maria, CA
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Santa Maria ranks 75th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 38th for income. A household earns $95,637 a year while median rent runs $2,108/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 9% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (31st of 300), while home prices is the soft spot (293rd). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 291st and home prices 293rd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Santa Maria, your take-home is worth about $53,582 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 38th of 300↑26.4%$95,637
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 286th of 300109 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $87,903
- Per-capita income
- $47,071
- Full-time pay
- $41,182
Housing
- Median rent
- 291st of 300↑27%$2,108/mo
- Home value
- 293rd of 300↑51.7%$900,900
- Property tax
- $5,491/yr · 0.6%
- Sales tax
- 8.80%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 273rd of 3006.5%
- Bachelor's+
- 90th of 30038.6%
- Avg commute
- 31st of 30020.7 min
People
- Population
- 444,500
- Population change
- -0.4%
- Median age
- 34.8 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 22.5%
- Broadband
- 92.3%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 185th of 30049
- Natural-hazard loss
- 282nd of 300$38/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 250th of 30022.4%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 12.1%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Commute
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
- – Job market
- – Hazard safety
- – Health
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — santa barbara 11 w.
What jobs pay in Santa Maria
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $287,230
- IT managers
- $207,760
- Lawyers
- $170,970
- Financial managers
- $164,270
- Pharmacists
- $162,520
- Software developers
- $158,290
- Registered nurses
- $137,360
- Police officers
- $120,900
- Civil engineers
- $119,980
- General & operations managers
- $111,390
- Secondary school teachers
- $102,840
- Elementary school teachers
- $101,030
- Accountants & auditors
- $91,610
- Electricians
- $75,290
- Carpenters
- $75,140
- Plumbers
- $61,000
- Construction laborers
- $56,140
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $55,910
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $52,780
- Customer service reps
- $49,080
- Janitors
- $37,900
- Retail salespersons
- $37,200
- Cashiers
- $36,600
- Waiters & waitresses
- $35,260
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Santa Maria metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in California are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Washington951
- Texas547
- Illinois444
- Arizona422
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Santa Maria
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Santa Maria metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Santa Maria metro?
- Median gross rent across the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area is $2,108 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Santa Maria.
- What is the median household income in the Santa Maria metro?
- A typical household in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area earns $95,637 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Santa Maria expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area runs about 9% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Santa Maria metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $87,903 (versus its face value of $95,637). CityLedger rates the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Santa Maria metro?
- The median home value across the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area is $900,900 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Santa Maria metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area is 6.5% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).