Santa Barbara County, California

For the island, see Santa Barbara Island. For the wine region, see Santa Barbara County wine.

Santa Barbara County
County
Goleta on the Central Coast Santa Barbara Montecito Lompoc Solvang Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands
Flag Seal
Interactive map of Santa Barbara County
Location in the state of California
Country	United States
State	California
Region	California Central Coast
Incorporated	February 18, 1850
Named for	Saint Barbara
County seat	Santa Barbara
Largest city	Santa Maria (population) Santa Barbara (area)
Government
• Type	Council–CEO
• Body	Board of Supervisors
• Chair	Bob Nelson
• Vice Chair	Joan Hartmann
• Board of Supervisors	Supervisors Roy Lee Laura Capps Joan Hartmann Bob Nelson Steve Lavagnino
• County executive officer	Mona Miyasato
Area
• Total	3,789 sq mi (9,810 km2)
• Land	2,735 sq mi (7,080 km2)
• Water	1,054 sq mi (2,730 km2)  27.8%
Highest elevation	6,803 ft (2,074 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	448,229
• Estimate  (2025)	442,065
• Density	163.9/sq mi (63.28/km2)
GDP
• Total	$36.081 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Area codes	661, 805/820
Congressional district	24th
Website	countyofsb.org

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter settlement_type. Replace with type.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter blank_info_sec2. Replace with custom_data_sec2.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter timezone. Replace with time_zone.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter mapsize1. Replace with map_size1.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter blank_name_sec2. Replace with custom_label_sec2.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter timezone_DST. Replace with time_zone_DST.

Preview warning: Page using Template:Infobox settlement with deprecated parameter image_skyline. Replace with image.

Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (Spanish: Condado de Santa Bárbara), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria.

Santa Barbara County comprises the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Most of the county is part of the California Central Coast. Mainstays of the county's economy include engineering, resource extraction (particularly petroleum extraction and diatomaceous earth mining), winemaking, agriculture, and education. The software development and tourism industries are important employers in the southern part of the county.