What is the median rent in Montecito, CA?

Name: Median rent in Montecito, CA, 2020–2024
Creator: US Census Bureau
License: https://www.census.gov/data/developers/about/terms-of-service.html

The median gross rent in Montecito, CA is $3,500 or more a month, according to the US Census Bureau’s 2020–2024 American Community Survey.

That is across 669 rented homes; gross rent is the contract rent plus the utilities and fuels a renter pays separately.

Figures last updated on November 12, 2026.

Median gross rent: $3,500 or more
Rented homes: 669 (±165)
$2,000 or more: 88.4%

How much rent costs in Montecito

Share of rented homes in each gross-rent range, 2020–2024
Monthly gross rent	Montecito	Santa Barbara County	California	United States
Less than $500	0.0% (±6.2 points)	3.3%	3.6%	6.3%
$500 to $999	1.9% (±2.6 points)	5.1%	7.2%	20.2%
$1,000 to $1,499	6.1% (±6.1 points)	13.5%	16.2%	28.1%
$1,500 to $1,999	3.6% (±3.2 points)	22.5%	21.5%	21.1%
$2,000 to $2,499	8.7% (±5.9 points)	21.5%	19.8%	12.0%
$2,500 to $2,999	9.6% (±12.5 points)	12.5%	12.5%	5.5%
$3,000 or more	70.1% (±11.8 points)	21.6%	19.1%	6.8%

The most common range is $3,000 or more, paid by 70.1% of renting households.

88.4% of rented homes in Montecito cost $2,000 or more a month.

Montecito against Santa Barbara County, its state and the nation

Estimate (90% margin of error)
	Montecito	Santa Barbara County	California	United States
Median gross rent	$3,500 or more	$2,131 (±$35)	$2,036 (±$5)	$1,413
Rented homes paying rent	669 (±165)	68,572 (±1,303)	5,783,331 (±22,650)	42,849,984

How rent in Montecito has changed since 2015–2019

2015–2019 and 2020–2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates
	2015–2019	2020–2024	Amount of change	Verdict
Households that rent	27.5% (±4.4 points)	24.2% (±5.1 points)	−3.3 percentage points	Not a measurable change
Rental vacancy rate	0.4% (±0.7 points)	7.6% (±5.3 points)	+7.2 percentage points	Measurable increase

The Census Bureau publishes 2015–2019 dollars in 2019 dollars and 2020–2024 dollars in 2024 dollars.

Prices (the CPI-U, US Bureau of Labor Statistics) rose 22.7% between 2019 and 2024, so a dollar figure’s verdict compares the two after raising the earlier one by that much, using the Census Bureau’s test for a difference.

The two periods do not overlap, as the Census Bureau recommends for 5-year estimates.

Median gross rent in places near Montecito

Nearest places with a published estimate, compared with Montecito
Place	Distance	Median gross rent	Compared with this place
Montecito	—	$3,500 or more	—
Toro Canyon	4.1 mi	$2,179 (±$861)	—
Santa Barbara	4.7 mi	$2,413 (±$62)	—
Mission Canyon	5.4 mi	$3,500 or more	—
Carpinteria	7.9 mi	$2,377 (±$149)	—
Eastern Goleta Valley	8.9 mi	$2,964 (±$327)	—
University of California-Santa Barbara	12 mi	$1,526 (±$111)	—
Goleta	13 mi	$2,437 (±$120)	—
Isla Vista	13 mi	$1,878 (±$95)	—

None of the nearby places differs measurably from this one on this figure.

Distance is measured in a straight line between the Census Bureau’s internal points for each place.

Median gross rent across Santa Barbara County, place by place

Rank	Place	Median gross rent
1 (tie)	Mission Canyon	$3,500 or more
1 (tie)	Montecito	$3,500 or more
3	Eastern Goleta Valley	$2,964 (±$327)
4	Los Alamos	$2,882 (±$1,104)
5	Vandenberg AFB	$2,747 (±$100)
6	Goleta	$2,437 (±$120)
7	Santa Barbara	$2,413 (±$62)
8	Carpinteria	$2,377 (±$149)

Showing 8 of 21 places in Santa Barbara County, ranked from highest to lowest.

Montecito is a census-designated place: an unincorporated community the Census Bureau draws for statistics, with no municipal government of its own.

Survey years: 2020–2024 (American Community Survey 5-year estimates), compared with 2015–2019.

Margins of error are at the 90% confidence level.

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Questions about Montecito

What is the average rent in Montecito, CA?

The Census Bureau publishes the median rather than the average: the median gross rent in Montecito is $3,500 or more a month (2020–2024 American Community Survey), so half of renting households pay less and half pay more.

How many rentals in Montecito cost more than $2,000 a month?

88.4% of rented homes in Montecito have a gross rent of $2,000 or more a month, and 0.0% cost less than $500.

Is this the rent for an apartment listed today?

No: these are rents households reported paying across 2020–2024, not asking rents for vacant homes, which usually run higher.

Sources

To check these figures in the Census Bureau’s own API, request the variables below from the 2024 ACS 5-year data profile (acs/acs5/profile) for Montecito CDP, California (place:48844, in state:06).

Each estimate (E or PE) has a margin of error beside it (M or PM).

The 2015–2019 figures are B25064_001E, B25064_001M, DP04_0047PE, DP04_0047PM, DP04_0005E, DP04_0005M from the 2019 release.

The API needs a free key.

Request a Census API key.

DP04_0134E, DP04_0134M, DP04_0126E, DP04_0126M, DP04_0127PE, DP04_0127PM, DP04_0128PE, DP04_0128PM, DP04_0129PE, DP04_0129PM, DP04_0130PE, DP04_0130PM, DP04_0131PE, DP04_0131PM, DP04_0132PE, DP04_0132PM, DP04_0133PE, DP04_0133PM

This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Figures are published by the US Census Bureau, HUD, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the FBI; Seayora reproduces them and does not adjust them, except where a sentence says it compares dollar figures after inflation. They describe the whole place, not any one building or street, and are not an appraisal, a rent determination, a tax bill, a safety rating or legal advice.