Cost of living comparison
compared to
United States vs. Santa Barbara Cost of Living Summary
United States is 14.6% cheaper than Santa Barbara.
- Restaurants
-
pay 17.3% less in United States
- Groceries
-
pay 14.8% less in United States
- Transportation
-
pay 2.6% less in United States
- Housing
-
pay 24.9% less in United States
- Childcare
-
pay 19.9% less in United States
- Entertainment and Sports
-
pay 14.6% less in United States
- Clothing
-
pay 7.9% less in United States
Expenses including housing, childcare, restaurants, groceries, entertainment and sports, and clothing are lower in United States.
United States vs. Santa Barbara Cost Breakdown
If you lived in United States instead of Santa Barbara, you would:
pay 17.3% less for restaurants
|
Santa Barbara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$25.00
|
$19.45
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$15.00
|
$11.12
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.67
|
$2.56
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.42
|
$2.00
|
|
Santa Barbara vs. United States - Cost of restaurants
pay 14.8% less for groceries
|
Santa Barbara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$4.40
|
$3.56
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$12.68
|
$6.50
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$5.25
|
$3.97
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$5.38
|
$4.27
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$8.38
|
$5.41
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$2.90
|
$2.37
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.74
|
$0.78
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.75
|
$2.04
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.48
|
$2.21
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.47
|
$1.34
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.36
|
$1.38
|
|
Santa Barbara vs. United States - Cost of groceries
pay 2.6% less for transportation
|
Santa Barbara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$4.73
|
$3.41
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$52.00
|
$65.85
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$28,500.00
|
$32,336.38
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$22.78
|
$17.61
|
|
Santa Barbara vs. United States - Cost of transportation
pay 24.9% less for housing
|
Santa Barbara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$74.25
|
$68.97
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$2,720.83
|
$1,664.59
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$2,538.89
|
$1,416.15
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$166.24
|
$150.19
|
|
Santa Barbara vs. United States - Cost of housing
pay 19.9% less for childcare
|
Santa Barbara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,425.00
|
$1,387.27
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$37,000.00
|
$23,196.46
|
|
Santa Barbara vs. United States - Cost of childcare
pay 14.6% less for entertainment and sports
|
Santa Barbara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$8.00
|
$5.84
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$6.14
|
$5.15
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$11.82
|
$9.90
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$66.50
|
$51.45
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$12.50
|
$13.64
|
|
Santa Barbara vs. United States - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 7.9% less for clothing
|
Santa Barbara
|
United States
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$69.00
|
$51.08
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$40.75
|
$41.81
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$77.00
|
$87.56
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$143.33
|
$112.04
|
|
Santa Barbara vs. United States - Cost of clothing
The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you.
We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world.
Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025
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