media marketSanta Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo
presidential margin
2004–2024 · Democratic minus Republican
2004D+1.4
2008D+15.3
2012D+10.6
2016D+19.5
2020D+23.6
2024D+19.6
full record · 1892 → 2024
presidential returns
2024 turnout 66.0% of 507,948 citizens 18+
Year
Democrat
Republican
Others
Total
CVAP
Turnout
2024
195,463
129,802
10,216
335,481
507,948
66.0%
2020
218,273
133,172
9,701
361,146
504,233
71.6%
2016
174,249
112,529
29,302
316,080
491,660
64.3%
2012
155,387
124,573
9,891
289,851
470,184
61.6%
2008
173,790
126,640
8,132
308,562
452,222
68.2%
2004
149,056
144,801
5,054
298,911
434,260†
68.8%
† Citizen voting-age population estimated for prior cycles; 2004 predates the ACS and is extrapolated. Source: ACS 5-year, table B05003.
——
D+60R+60
2 counties by 2024 margin · County returns · MIT Election Lab
People and households
Who lives here
Exact values for this place, its state, and the United States.
Race · ethnicity · ancestry
Communities and origins
GroupSanta Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis ObispoCaliforniaUnited States
German11.1%6.8%12.5%
English10.7%6.3%9.5%
Irish9.3%5.9%9.4%
Italian4.8%3.4%4.8%
American2.3%2.8%5.3%
Scottish2.1%0.9%1.3%
French1.9%1.3%1.6%
Portuguese0.8%——
Mexican34.5%32.3%11.3%
Spanish0.7%0.3%—
Salvadoran0.7%2.0%0.7%
Spaniard0.5%0.3%—
Puerto Rican0.4%0.6%1.8%
Guatemalan0.4%1.3%0.5%
Colombian0.2%0.3%0.4%
Filipino1.2%3.3%0.9%
Chinese1.1%3.9%1.3%
Korean0.5%1.2%0.4%
Japanese0.4%0.6%0.2%
Asian Indian0.4%2.3%1.4%
Vietnamese0.4%1.7%0.6%
African American†1.2%4.4%9.9%
Hispanic or Latino counts residents of any race; the race groups count only their non-Hispanic residents, so the groups are mutually exclusive and sum to 100%. Expand a row to see ancestries reported within that group.
Age and life stage
Measure
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo
California
United States
Median age
36.9
37.9
39.1
Age 18–24
14.9%
9.1%
9.2%
Age 65 and older
18.9%
15.6%
17.2%
Household economy
Measure
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo
California
United States
Median household income
$97,883
$99,122
$84,427
Poverty rate
14.0%
12.0%
12.5%
Bachelor's degree or higher (25+)
38.0%
36.6%
35.6%
Languages at home
Measure
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo
California
United States
Speaks a non-English language at home
31.6%
44.4%
22.3%
Spanish
25.5%
28.4%
13.6%
Other Indo-European
1.0%
3.4%
2.0%
Chinese (incl. Mandarin & Cantonese)
1.1%
3.5%
1.1%
Religious landscape
Measure
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo
California
United States
Catholic
27.9%
26.2%
18.6%
Evangelical Protestant
7.1%
9.0%
16.5%
Unclaimed / not counted
56.7%
55.2%
51.5%
American Community Survey 2024 5-year (CVAP, income, age, poverty, education, language, race, ancestry) · presidential returns from MIT Election Lab through 2024 · 2020 U.S. Religion Census (ASARB) — congregational adherents; unclaimed is the residual not counted by congregations.
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California
presidential history
Presidential margin, 1892–2024
Democratic minus Republican, by election
Presidential margin over time
Year
Margin (D minus R)
1892
−6.7%
1896
+3.8%
1900
−3.3%
1904
−29.9%
1908
−19.2%
1912
+39.6%
1916
+8.1%
1920
−40.5%
1924
−49.6%
1928
−34.2%
1932
+25.4%
1936
+23.8%
1940
+9.3%
1944
+5.2%
1948
−17.0%
1952
−32.8%
1956
−25.2%
1960
−12.1%
1964
+14.3%
1968
−12.3%
1972
−14.1%
1976
−5.0%
1980
−23.7%
1984
−27.4%
1988
−11.0%
1992
+5.8%
1996
+0.2%
2000
−3.9%
2004
+1.4%
2008
+15.3%
2012
+10.6%
2016
+19.5%
2020
+23.6%
2024
+19.6%
DemocraticRepublican
34 presidential elections
Third column names the leading third-party or independent finisher. Source · MIT Election Lab · ICPSR · VEST (precinct-level 2024). Swing · margin change from the prior cycle. vs U.S. · margin relative to the national result that year.
Year
Won
Democratic
Republican
Other
Margin
Swing
vs U.S.
Total
D
58.3%Harris195,463
38.7%Trump129,802
1.4%Kennedy4,752 +4
D+19.6
R+4.0
D+21.0
335,481
All 7 candidates in 2024 · 5 minor / independent
Kamala D HarrisDemocratic58.3%195,463
Donald J TrumpRepublican38.7%129,802
Robert F Kennedy Jr.Independent1.4%4,752
Jill SteinIndependent0.7%2,479
Chase OliverLibertarian0.5%1,779
Claudia De La CruzIndependent0.4%1,194
OtherAll other candidates0.0%12
D
60.4%Biden218,273
36.9%Trump133,172
2.7%
D+23.6
D+4.0
D+19.1
361,146
D
55.1%Clinton174,249
35.6%Trump112,529
9.3%
D+19.5
D+8.9
D+17.4
316,080
D
53.6%Obama155,387
43.0%Romney124,573
3.4%
D+10.6
R+4.6
D+6.8
289,851
D
56.3%Obama173,790
41.0%McCain126,640
2.6%
D+15.3
D+13.9
D+8.0
308,562
D
49.9%Kerry149,056
48.4%Bush144,801
1.7%
D+1.4
D+5.4
D+3.9
298,911
R
44.7%Gore117,937
48.6%Bush128,352
6.7%
R+3.9
R+4.1
R+4.5
263,860
D
44.2%Clinton111,045
44.0%Dole110,648
11.8%
D+0.2
R+5.7
R+8.4
251,245
D
40.9%Clinton109,351
35.1%Bush93,759
24.0%
D+5.8
D+16.8
D+0.3
267,375
R
43.8%Dukakis99,253
54.8%Bush124,137
1.3%
R+11.0
D+16.4
R+3.3
226,407
R
35.7%Mondale78,189
63.1%Reagan138,349
1.2%
R+27.4
R+3.7
R+9.2
219,270
R
30.8%Carter61,158
54.5%Reagan108,260
14.7%
R+23.7
R+18.7
R+14.0
198,522
R
45.9%Carter79,944
50.9%Ford88,707
3.2%
R+5.0
D+9.0
R+7.1
174,142
R
41.4%McGovern71,388
55.4%Nixon95,641
3.2%
R+14.1
R+1.8
D+9.1
172,574
R
40.7%Humphrey53,393
52.9%Nixon69,488
6.4%
R+12.3
R+26.6
R+11.6
131,301
D
57.1%Johnson70,633
42.8%Goldwater52,926
0.1%
D+14.3
D+26.4
R+8.3
123,672
R
43.7%Kennedy44,384
55.9%Nixon56,667
0.4%
R+12.1
D+13.1
R+12.3
101,457
R
37.2%Stevenson28,332
62.3%Eisenhower47,517
0.5%
R+25.2
D+7.6
R+9.8
76,232
R
33.3%Stevenson23,554
66.1%Eisenhower46,717
0.5%
R+32.8
R+15.8
R+22.0
70,634
R
39.5%Truman21,220
56.5%Dewey30,323
4.0%
R+17.0
R+22.1
R+21.4
53,704
D
52.4%Roosevelt23,789
47.2%Dewey21,440
0.4%
D+5.2
R+4.1
R+2.3
45,393
D
54.1%Roosevelt25,736
44.8%Willkie21,311
1.2%
D+9.3
R+14.5
R+0.7
47,598
D
61.1%Roosevelt23,812
37.3%Landon14,540
1.5%
D+23.8
R+1.6
R+0.5
38,951
D
60.3%Roosevelt21,306
34.8%Hoover12,313
4.9%
D+25.4
D+59.7
D+7.6
35,353
R
32.2%Smith8,290
66.5%Hoover17,091
1.3%
R+34.2
D+15.3
R+16.8
25,719
R
9.4%Davis1,973
58.9%Coolidge12,419
31.7%
R+49.6
R+9.1
R+24.4
21,079
R
24.6%Cox4,192
65.0%Harding11,093
10.4%
R+40.5
R+48.6
R+14.3
17,054
D
49.7%Wilson8,737
41.6%Hughes7,307
8.7%
D+8.1
R+31.4
D+5.0
17,568
O
39.6%Wilson5,067
0.0%Taft0
60.4%
Roosevelt +20.9
D+58.7
D+20.0
12,811
R
34.1%Bryan3,021
53.2%Taft4,721
12.7%
R+19.2
D+10.8
R+9.6
8,872
R
29.3%Parker2,319
59.2%Roosevelt4,691
11.5%
R+29.9
R+26.6
R+10.3
7,925
R
46.0%Bryan3,312
49.4%McKinley3,552
4.6%
R+3.3
R+7.1
D+4.2
7,195
D
50.5%Bryan3,972
46.7%McKinley3,675
2.8%
D+3.8
D+10.5
D+9.9
7,870
R
33.3%Cleveland2,427
40.0%Harrison2,916
26.6%
R+6.7
—
R+8.4
7,282
voter registration
Registered voters
By party of registration, over time
Party registration · 2024D+13.8
vs
Presidential vote · 2024D+19.6
Registration leans Democratic; the presidential vote runs 5.8 points more Republican.
418,343 registered voters · 2024 · up from 416,406 in 2022
Domestic migration in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo: net domestic migration by year
Year
Net domestic migration
2011
−1,530
2012
+3,315
2013
+2,209
2014
+2,472
2015
+196
2016
−573
2017
−1,739
2018
−1,284
2019
−2,169
2021
−14,255
2022
+6,159
2023
−7,855
2024
−5,176
2025
−3,563
Spanning three Central Coast counties, this media market blends UC Santa Barbara's student electorate with agricultural inland communities, producing countywide margins that routinely diverge from statewide Democratic baselines by 8–12 points depending on the cycle.
Across the recorded series it reached a Democratic high of 39.6 points in 1912 and a Republican high of 49.6 points in 1924. Between 2020 and 2024 the market moved 4.0 points toward the Republican candidate; the 2024 margin was 19.6 points.
A population of 725,256, a 50% non-Hispanic-white share, and a median household income of $97,883 describe the market. The market's voting pattern over the last decade is most similar to that of San Diego and Austin.
Akashic
Political twins — media markets
The media markets whose fingerprint — 2000–2024 trajectory, demographics, ancestry, religion — sits closest to this one, and why.
Twin score (0–100) = weighted cosine between tier-standardized fingerprints: presidential margins 2000–2024 with 12-yr trend and elasticity, ACS income, age, education, population and race, top reported ancestries, and religious adherence — chips name the closest-shared dimensions and the widest gap. Re-weight the groups in the twins explorer.
Compare two places, side by side
Twelve curated comparisons line up election history, demographics, and the divergence story for two places at a glance. Browse all comparisons →
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Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California. Akashic. https://akashic.app/dma/855/. Accessed May 20, 2026. License: CC BY 4.0.
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How did Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California vote in 2024?
In 2024, Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California voted Democratic by 19.6 points (D+19.6), carried by the Democratic candidate. Out of 335,481 votes cast, 195,463 went Democratic and 129,802 went Republican.
When did Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California last vote Republican?
The most recent presidential election in which Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California voted Republican was 2000.
How many people live in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California?
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California has a population of 725,256 according to the 2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates from the US Census Bureau.
What is the median household income in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California?
Median household income in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California is $97,883 — above the national median of $80,734. The California state median is $99,122.
What is the political history of Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California?
Akashic tracks 34 presidential elections in Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-San Luis Obispo, California from 1892 to 2024. Of those, 15 went Democratic and 18 went Republican.
