What is the Best Neighborhoods USA ranking for Bel Air?
Bel Air is ranked #10 of 28 eligible neighborhoods in Santa Barbara; #485 of 1,814 eligible neighborhoods in CA; and #4,595 of 14,967 eligible neighborhoods in the United States.
Neighborhood Profile
Bel Air
Santa Barbara, CA | Santa Barbara County
Scored premium profile
Best Neighborhoods USA Index
58.3
Stability and Strength
65.2
Value Opportunity
46.1
Momentum
64.2
Score note: Rankings show denominators so users always see the size of the eligible cohort.
| Context | Value |
|---|---|
| Location | Santa Barbara, CA |
| County | Santa Barbara County |
| National rank | #4,595 of 14,967 |
| State rank | #485 of 1,814 |
| City rank | #10 of 28 |
| County rank | #10 of 28 |
| National percentile | 69.3 |
| National band | MIDDLE_50_PERCENT |
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Housing and local fundamentals
| Housing and market metrics | Value |
|---|---|
| Current Zillow home value | $2,197,605 |
| Year-over-year home value change | 2.6% |
| Month-over-month home value change | 0.08% |
| Home value to income ratio | 13.61 |
| Median household income | $161,524 |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 58.3% |
| Civilian unemployment rate | 4.4% |
| Homeownership rate | 77.2% |
| Housing vacancy rate | 7.9% |
| Rent burden 30% or higher | 78.9% |
How to read this profile
- Ranks are always shown with denominators.
- Momentum reflects both year-over-year and month-over-month housing change.
- Stability and Strength and Value Opportunity are governed composite scores.
- Identity composition is descriptive intelligence and is not a scoring component.
Questions and Answers
Questions About Living in Bel Air
Is Bel Air one of the best neighborhoods in Santa Barbara?
Bel Air has a Best Neighborhoods USA Index of 58.3 and a city ranking of #10 of 28 eligible neighborhoods in Santa Barbara.
How much are homes worth in Bel Air?
The current Zillow Home Value Index for Bel Air is approximately $2,197,605.
Are home values rising or falling in Bel Air?
Zillow neighborhood values changed 2.6% year over year and 0.08% month over month.
What is the Neighborhood Momentum Score for Bel Air?
Bel Air has a Neighborhood Momentum Score of 64.2. Momentum is 70% year-over-year and 30% month-over-month Zillow housing change.
What is the median household income in Bel Air?
The NDS-derived neighborhood median household income is approximately $161,524.
How affordable is Bel Air relative to household income?
The current Zillow home-value-to-household-income ratio is 13.61. Price-to-income affordability is a major Value Opportunity input.
Is Bel Air primarily homeowners or renters?
The NDS-derived homeownership rate is approximately 77.2%.
What is the unemployment rate in Bel Air?
The NDS-derived civilian unemployment rate is approximately 4.4%.
How educated are residents of Bel Air?
Approximately 58.3% of residents age 25 and older are estimated to have a bachelor's degree or higher.
What share of renters in Bel Air face high rent burden?
Approximately 78.9% of the applicable renter-household universe is estimated to spend 30% or more of household income on gross rent.
How does Best Neighborhoods USA score Bel Air?
The overall index combines 40% Stability and Strength, 35% Value Opportunity, and 25% Momentum. Race, ethnicity, and identity composition are not scoring components.
Governed ranking context
How this neighborhood ranks
HMDA Mortgage Intelligence
Neighborhood Mortgage Market
Modeled neighborhood-level mortgage activity allocated from governed HMDA tract data using Zillow neighborhood geometry. These neighborhood values are nonadditive and do not enter the Best Neighborhoods USA Index.
Activity year2024
Estimated applications34
Estimated originations18
Home-purchase applications7
Origination rate53.9%
Home-purchase share19.8%
Average application loan$664,617
Total application loan amount$22,661,361
National application rank#8,754 of 14,874 rankable neighborhoods
Geometry coverage100.0%
Recent trend: Applications 22.1% YoY; originations 13.1% YoY
Mortgage methodology
HMDA is natively reported at tract and other lender-reporting geographies, not Zillow neighborhood or ZIP geography. This module uses the certified NDS HMDA-to-Zillow tract-vintage crosswalk and area-weighted allocation. Rankings require governed geometry coverage. Applicant demographics are excluded. Neighborhood values may overlap and must not be summed to reconstruct ZIP or national totals.