University Employment

UC Santa Barbara is the largest employer in the county by a wide margin at 9,500 employees in 2007 (see Figure 1). This is double the next largest employer. This is not without effect on other sectors of the County. Employees must find housing in this very competitive and expensive market. To offset this impact, the University's Long Range Development Plan proposes providing approximately 1,800 additional faculty and staff housing units, 5,500 additional bed spaces and 240 more student family units.

A graph showing the top employers in Santa Barbara County for 2004.
Figure 1

Of the $295 million spent on annual employment, 93% stays within the county, paying $275 million to local employees (see Figure 2).

Pie chart showing the UCSB Employment Expenditures for (2003) which depicts $275 million dollars of income staying local and only $21 million dollars leaving the county
Figure 2