Rank

2953of 3,144

Santa Barbara, California

Score 4.68 / 10· population 441,257

About 441,300 people live in Santa Barbara, California. It ranks #2,953 of 3,144 counties for liberty, and #30 of 58 in California. The combined sales tax is 7.75%, higher than in 80% of counties. Property tax takes about 0.59% of a home's value each year, less than in 67% of counties. Local government employs a larger share of working residents than in 52% of counties. The homicide rate is higher than in 60% of counties. Life expectancy is at least 80 years, longer than in 91% of counties. Air quality is worse than in 90% of counties (a typical day's air quality index is 49), and flood and hurricane risk is higher than in 97% of counties. On this site's state scores, California gets 4.79 of 10 for economic freedom, based on the Fraser Institute's ranking, and 1 of 10 for gun rights.

v4 — beta, 30 October 2026, sourced values