Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metro Area
The Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA metro area is one county in California: Santa Barbara County. About 442,065 people lived there on July 1, 2025 (Census estimate), 1.4% fewer than in April 2020.
- Population, July 2025
- 442,065 1.4% fewer than in April 2020
- Type
- Metropolitan statistical area
- County
- Santa Barbara County
- Land area
- 2,734 sq mi (7,081 km²)
- Time zone
- Pacific TimeUTC-08:00 in January; UTC-07:00 in July
- State
- California
- CBSA code
- 42200
The county in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA metro area
| County | Role | Population, July 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County | Central | 442,065 |
A central county holds the area’s core, an urban area of at least 50,000 people. This area has no outlying counties: no neighboring county sends enough commuters to join it. A county belongs to one metro or micro area at most, and it counts whole, countryside included.
Principal cities, largest first
- Santa Maria110,462 people
- Santa Barbara87,779 people
OMB names the area after its largest principal cities. A principal city is the area’s largest city, plus any other city that is very large or a big job center, and smaller ones with at least as many jobs as working residents (2020 Census and commuting figures). People counts are American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-year estimates.
Bordering metro and micro areas, nearest first
Areas with a county on this area’s edge. Distances are straight lines between the areas’ largest cities.
- San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA Metro Area26 mi northwest
- Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area85 mi east
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA Metro Area87 mi southeast
Before using this answer on a form
A metro or micro area is a statistical area that OMB draws for federal statistics. It is not a city, a local government or a mailing address, and it is not a measure of urban and rural: whole counties count, rural parts included. Programs that use metro areas, such as housing income limits or wage rates, can use their own version of these lists; check the program’s own list for an address.
Find the metro area where you are now, find your county, or see every metro and micro area by population.