93106University of California-Santa Barbara, California

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 93106.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 38% of 6,210 ZIP areas measured60
Housing affordability6327th of 6,685 ZIP areas measured39
ClimateTop 8% of 6,789 ZIP areas measured89
Physical resilience5827th of 6,709 ZIP areas measured19
Access5753rd of 6,791 ZIP areas measured74
Economic stability6339th of 6,742 ZIP areas measured27
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.2% and median household income $75,875, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published ZIP profiles.

Rent takes 33% of median household income here, at or above the threshold conventionally called cost-burdened.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by earthquake, inland flooding and drought.

At a glance

Population
5,418
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,875
Top 44% nationally
Density
8,600/sq mi
0.6 sq mi of land
Median age
20.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
University of California-Santa Barbara
California
Metro area
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
Nearest major airport
SMX
48 mi · Santa Maria Pub/Capt G Allan Hancock Fld
Median home value

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 60% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.7% over the past year, to 215,731 employed residents.

73% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 97% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$66,608$75,875Top 44%of 31,2952023 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,670$16,134Bottom 3%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate29.8%Top 7%of 32,9702024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute14.6 minBottom 4%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher73.4%Top 3%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Employment215,731Top 21%of 6,544June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.6%Bottom 39%of 6,542June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.7%Top 48%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force225,281Top 21%of 6,544June 2026
Labor force participation48.0%Bottom 16%of 33,2522024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$71,660Top 35%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,690Top 40%of 6,0722025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.3%Bottom 31%of 6,544June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Bottom 40%of 6,544June 2026
Largest occupations — Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse11,020$36,230
Home Health and Personal Care Aides6,470$34,320
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,930$42,940
Retail Salespersons4,490$37,200
Cashiers4,170$36,600
Office Clerks, General3,630$55,620

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for University of California-Santa Barbara, CA, the city containing this ZIP code.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,100 takes 33% of median household income, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

Rent as a share of income
33.2%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Homeownership rate0.0%Bottom 1%of 32,9102024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3470Bottom 8%of 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$980$2,100Top 7%of 26,6182024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income33.2%Top 3%of 26,4702024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.7%Bottom 26%of 33,0282024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

9 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 73°F and January a low of 41°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 17.3 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 49, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SANTA BARBARA MUNI AP, 0.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND3.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index60.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation17.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low41°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high73°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months91991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10022024 calendar year
Median air quality index49.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing14°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
49
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
60
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

19 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and drought.

LandslideElevated
DroughtHigh
EarthquakeHigh
WildfireHigh
Inland floodingHigh
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, coastal flooding, tsunami, avalanche, hail, strong wind, tornado, cold wave, winter weather.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Santa Barbara County records 3.2 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 5.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 21.3 per 100,000 residents in Santa Barbara County.

Homicide
3.2
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
5.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
21.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
10.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Santa Barbara County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 93106 rather than 93106 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 48 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Santa Maria Pub/Capt G Allan Hancock FldSMX48 mi8,004 ft
Van NuysVNY79 mi8,001 ft
Meadows FldBFL83 mi10,849 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2023 ACS 5-Year; 2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

93106 vs University of California-Santa Barbara

How this ZIP area compares with University of California-Santa Barbara as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

93106
University of California-Santa Barbara
Median household income
$75,875
vs
$69,327
Per capita income
$16,134
vs
$17,245
Population density
8,600/sq mi
vs
9,324/sq mi
Median gross rent
$2,100
vs
$1,526
Homeownership rate
0.0%
vs
14.7%
Bachelor's degree or higher
73.4%
vs
80.6%
Poverty rate
29.8%
vs
17.5%
Median age
20.7
vs
20.0

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.