Population
29,411 residents
Census ACS 2023 - California
City profile · California · Census ACS 2023
Population, income, housing, safety, climate and schools for Eastern Goleta Valley - drawn straight from Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA, NCES, HUD and FEMA, refreshed on the 2024–2025 release cycle.
Eastern Goleta Valley - the verdict
Nationally, Eastern Goleta Valley sits in the 92nd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
29,411 people live in Eastern Goleta Valley, California - a small city by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Eastern Goleta Valley brings in $136,839 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.8%. Home values in Eastern Goleta Valley run a median of $1,192,000, and the median resident age is 44.9 years. Educational attainment runs 51.9% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 54.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
California carries a cost-of-living premium: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, California scores 110.7 (Well Above Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $3,124 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts California's average monthly utility costs around $275 (state average). Commute times here average 12.3 minutes, with 64.2% driving alone and 20.5% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 99.0 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Very High).
Population
29,411 residents
Census ACS 2023 - California
Median Household Income
$136,839 /yr
Poverty 2.8%
Cost of Living Index (state)
110.7 (US=100)
Well Above Average - BEA RPP 2024, California average
Eastern Goleta Valley measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
For each metric we count every US city with population 1,000+ and a non-null value, then compute what share of them fall below Eastern Goleta Valley's value: round(cities-below ÷ total × 100). Safety is inverted (percentile = share of cities with a higher crime rate) so a higher number always means safer. The in-state rank narrows that same crime-rate comparison to only the cities PlainCities tracks in California, breaking ties alphabetically. See the methodology page for the full source-to-figure lineage.
92nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Eastern Goleta Valley's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$1,192,000 2nd percentile more affordable than 2% of 15,600 US cities
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Based on 12,825 workers 16 and over.
State-average estimates for California - EIA 2023 residential energy data
Estimates reflect California state averages. Actual costs vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Cost of living is a California state average from BEA; rent and hazard risk are county-level figures from HUD and FEMA for the county Eastern Goleta Valley sits in
Population-matched peers from other states, closest to Eastern Goleta Valley's 29,411 residents (Census ACS 5-Year 2023).
Median-household-income-matched peers from other states, closest to Eastern Goleta Valley's $136,839 (Census ACS 5-Year 2023, table B19013).
City-level race and ethnicity, Census ACS 5-year 2023 (tables B02001, B03001), OMB Directive 15 categories.
Population + median household income, sourced from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 (population) and B19013 (median household income).
| City | Population | Median Household Income |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern Goleta Valley (this city) | 29,411 | $136,839 |
| San Lorenzo | 29,453 | $110,495 |
| Suisun City | 29,205 | $97,083 |
| East Palo Alto | 29,143 | $104,832 |
Eastern Goleta Valley, CA has a population of 29,411 according to U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates.
The median household income in Eastern Goleta Valley is $136,839 per year, based on Census ACS 2023 data.
BEA does not publish a city-level cost-of-living figure for Eastern Goleta Valley; the closest available measure is the California state average, a cost of living index of 110.7 (U.S. average = 100), rated "Well Above Average" based on BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 data. Costs within California vary by metro area.
Homes in Eastern Goleta Valley carry a median value of $1,192,000, according to Census ACS 2023 estimates.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES.
Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.