Moving to Ballard
Santa Barbara County loses about 10.0 residents per 1,000 a year to moves between counties.
Where people come from and where they go, top counties
Within California, other states or abroad
Income per tax return
People on tax returns who moved between counties, from IRS migration data, 2022 to 2023. Figures are for all of Santa Barbara County; flows under 20 returns are not published.
- Who moves here
- 6.8% of residents arrived from another county in the past year, 1.6% from another state. County figure.
- Who arrives and who leaves
- Households moving into Santa Barbara County report $115,200 a year in income on average; those leaving, $84,300, so newcomers earn more than leavers.
- Income you would need
- $85,200 a year to rent the median home at the 30% line. From your city
- Rent or buy
- Median rent is $2,131 a month; owners with a mortgage pay $4,001 a month including taxes and insurance, on a median home of $1,742,200.
- Getting to work
- 21 minutes each way on average; 35.1% work from home.
- If it is close but not quite
- Nantucket, MA matches it on character. Compare the two
All 5 moving measures
| Measure | Ballard | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moved here in the past year1County figure | 6.8% | 19% above | |
| Moved from another state1County figure | 1.6% | 19% below | |
| Net movers per 1,000 people7County figure | -10.0 | below (median -0.6) | |
| Income of households moving in7County figure | $115,238 | 63% above | |
| Income of households moving out7County figure | $84,261 | 20% above |
What it costs to live here
Home price to income is 12.4x, 226% above the median place.
Could you afford it?
Uses the median rent in Ballard, $2,131 a month, and local prices for everything else (100.1 against a US average of 100). It runs in your browser and stores nothing.
Moving from somewhere else? Work out the salary you would need in Ballard.
All 16 cost and housing measures
| Measure | Ballard | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median gross rent1County figure | $2,131 | 56% above | |
| Rent to income1 | 18.2% | 11% below | |
| Property tax rate1 | 0.5% | 41% below | |
| Home price to income1 | 12.4x | 226% above | |
| Prices vs US average2Metro figure | 108.8 | 8% above | |
| Fair market rent, 2 bedrooms3County figure | $3,106 | 92% above | |
| HUD area median income4County figure | $118,600 | 11% above | |
| Property tax paid (median)1 | $9,429 | 189% above | |
| Median home value1 | $1,742,200 | above (median $319,400) | |
| Home prices, 1-year change5County figure | 3.3% | 2% above | |
| Home prices, 5-year change5County figure | 56.3% | 9% above | |
| Homeownership1 | 73.2% | 10% above | |
| Renters paying 30%+1 | 77.0% | 52% above | |
| Owner costs with a mortgage1 | $4,001 | 114% above | |
| Vacant homes1County figure | 6.8% | 3% below | |
| Median year built1 | 1979 | 0% above |
Work and pay
Commutes by transit is 0.0%, below the median place (median 0.8%).
More on work and pay, against the typical place
All 10 work and pay measures
| Measure | Ballard | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income1 | $140,833 | 75% above | |
| Income per person1 | $71,718 | 79% above | |
| Unemployment1 | 9.5% | 95% above | |
| Average annual pay6County figure | $73,064 | 11% above | |
| Pay growth, 1 year6County figure | 4.9% | 32% above | |
| Jobs6County figure | 214,947 | 43% above | |
| Poverty rate1 | 15.2% | 41% above | |
| Mean commute1County figure | 21 min | 16% below | |
| Works from home1 | 35.1% | 182% above | |
| Commutes by transit1 | 0.0% | below (median 0.8%) |
Who lives here
Homes with broadband is 84.6%, 8% below the median place.
More about who lives here, against the typical place
All 8 people measures
Life in Ballard
1 site is on the National Register of Historic Places, 8 of them National Historic Landmarks.
- Ballard Adobes listed 2025
Businesses per 10,000 residents (county figures)
Counts businesses with paid staff, so small owner-run shops are not included.
All 9 schools and local life measures
| Measure | Ballard | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public schools10County figure | 126 | above (median 9) | |
| Public school students10County figure | 66,191 | above (median 4,897) | |
| Students per teacher10County figure | 20.6 | 34% above | |
| Restaurants and bars per 10k8County figure | 25.0 | 20% above | |
| Shops per 10k8County figure | 33.3 | 10% above | |
| Arts, recreation and fitness per 10k8County figure | 6.8 | 66% above | |
| Doctors' offices and clinics per 10k8County figure | 24.4 | 21% above | |
| Child care centers per 10k8County figure | 3.3 | 43% above | |
| National Register listings9 | 1 | 92% below |
Safety, weather and risk
Hurricane risk is 0.0, below the median place (median 70.7).
No crime figure yet. Either the city police department did not report to the FBI for the latest year, or our monthly fetch has not reached Ballard. Larger places are fetched first.
All 11 weather and risk measures
| Measure | Ballard | Among 6,645 places | Vs median |
|---|---|---|---|
| July average high11County figure | 82°F | 5% below | |
| January average low11County figure | 40°F | 59% above | |
| Average temperature11County figure | 59°F | 7% above | |
| Annual precipitation11County figure | 18.9 in | 57% below | |
| Natural hazard risk12County figure | 99.0 | 7% above | |
| Hurricane risk12County figure | 0.0 | below (median 70.7) | |
| Tornado risk12County figure | 5.4 | 93% below | |
| Wildfire risk12County figure | 99.2 | 62% above | |
| Heat wave risk12County figure | 75.4 | 16% below | |
| Median air quality index13County figure | 52 | 21% above | |
| Good air days13County figure | 44.9% | 34% below |
How it is changing
Five-year survey estimates, one point per release.
Median gross rent
Median household income
Median home value
Citytistics measures
Measures only Citytistics publishes, built from the figures on this page. Scores of 100 beat every place we track. Formulas
Ballard in 2030: where the trends point
If recent trends hold, the median rent will take about 23% of the median income in 2030, up from 22% now.
Citytistics projections to 2030: each figure's own trend, blended with the typical trend across the places we rate, eased toward long-run US growth and carried forward from the latest release. The range is where 80% of places landed when we tested the same method on past releases.
| Measure | Latest | 2030 projection | Likely range | Avg. per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,563/mo (2024) | $3,360/mo | $2,750 to $4,090/mo | +4.6% |
| Median household income | $140,833 (2024) | $177,000 | $149,500 to $209,500 | +3.9% |
| Median home value | $1,742,200 (2024) | $2,627,000 | $1,907,000 to $3,619,000 | +7.1% |
The median home would be worth 14.9 years of the median income in 2030, against 12.4 now.
A projection of recent trends, not a prediction of the economy or advice to buy or sell. How we project.
Places like Ballard
The closest matches on income, rent, home value, education and age, and the places nearby.
| Place | Rent | Income | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nantucket, MA | $2,228 | $148,017 | Compare |
| El Segundo, CA | $2,556 | $150,737 | Compare |
| Half Moon Bay, CA | $2,433 | $157,884 | Compare |
| Santa Barbara, CA | $2,413 | $106,182 | Compare |
Nearby
- Solvang, CA4 mi
- Buellton, CA5 mi
- Goleta, CA20 mi
- Vandenberg Village, CA21 mi
- Lompoc, CA21 mi
- University of California-Santa Barbara, CA22 mi
Compare Ballard with
Common questions
Is Ballard a good place to live?
It depends on what you need, so here is what the numbers say. The median home is worth 12.4 years of the median household's income, more than in 99% of the 2,480 places under 10,000 people we track. Between the 2019 and 2024 surveys, rent rose 10.1% a year while household income rose 2.5%, so rent outran pay by more than in 95% of places its size. On cost, space and class size it scores 53 out of 100 for families. See how it ranks with your own weights.
Is Ballard expensive to live in?
The median rent takes 18.2% of the median household income, against 20.4% in the typical place we track. Housing is a lighter load here than usual. The median home is valued at $1,742,200.
What salary do you need to live in Ballard?
To rent the median home without spending more than 30% of income on rent, a household needs about $85,240 a year. Work it out from your current city.
What places are similar to Ballard?
On income, rent, home value, education and age, the closest matches are Nantucket, MA, El Segundo, CA, Half Moon Bay, CA and Santa Barbara, CA.
Sources and methods
The small numbers beside each measure point here. Every dataset is public; links go to the publisher.
- American Community Survey 5-year estimates · US Census Bureau · 2020 to 2024 estimatesTables B01002, B01003, B05002, B07003, B08013, B08301, B15003, B17001, B19013, B19301, B23025, B25002, B25003, B25010, B25035, B25064, B25070, B25077, B25088, B25103, B28002, S2701
- Regional Price Parities · US Bureau of Economic Analysis · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
- Fair Market Rents · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2027
- Income Limits · US Department of Housing and Urban Development · Fiscal year 2026
- House Price Index · Federal Housing Finance Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14
- Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages · US Bureau of Labor Statistics · 2025 annual averages
- SOI Tax Stats, county-to-county migration · Internal Revenue Service · Tax years 2022 to 2023Counts tax returns and the people on them; flows under 20 returns are suppressed.
- County Business Patterns · US Census Bureau · 2023 data
- National Register of Historic Places · National Park Service · Listings through 2026-05-22
- Common Core of Data · National Center for Education Statistics · 2024 release
- 1991-2020 climate normals · NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information · Series updated 2026-11-05Averages for 1991 to 2020 computed from NOAA's county climate series (nClimDiv).nClimDiv county series
- National Risk Index · Federal Emergency Management Agency · Latest release, retrieved 2026-11-14NRI data and maps
- Air Quality System, annual AQI by county · US Environmental Protection Agency · 2025 dataAirData download files
Derived by Citytistics from the tables above: rent to income (B25064, B19013); property tax rate (B25103, B25077); home price to income (B25077, B19013).
What stands out compares Ballard with places of a similar size, using only figures measured for Ballard itself; county and metro figures never count. Survey figures are estimates with margins of error. Formulas and definitions: methodology. API: /api/v1/places/ballard-california
Citytistics. “Ballard, California.” Data as of 2026-11-14. https://www.citytistics.com/city/ballard-california/
This product uses the Census Bureau Data API but is not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.