Caught in the Rental Crunch

Our Readers Speak Out on the

Struggles of Renting in Santa Barbara

By: Ryan P. Cruz | December 15, 2022

It’s no secret that Santa Barbara is expensive. This year, U.S. News & World Report ranked Santa Barbara the fifth most expensive city to live in in the U.S. And according to LivingCost.org, a crowdsourced database that calculates and ranks the total cost of living for more than 9,000 cities across the world, Santa Barbara is in the top 0.1 percent — the most expensive in California, second in the U.S., and fourth in the world — with an average cost of living of $3,455 per month.

Back in December 2014, someone looking for a one-bedroom rental could expect to find a listing for around $1,900 a month, according to data collected by Zumper, which analyzes active rental inventory in real-time and has kept track of prices over the past eight years. A two-bedroom in Santa Barbara in 2014 would run close to $2,700.

But since then — and most dramatically in the past year — these rates have skyrocketed, exacerbated by a higher demand for rentals, a lack of new affordable units, and an influx of high-salaried remote workers who have moved into town to enjoy a piece of what is considered one of the best places to live in the world. Based on limited listings collected by Zumper, the average rent in Santa Barbara as of December 3, 2022, was $2,815 for a one-bedroom apartment and $4,200 for a two-bedroom.