Immigrants are essential to the Central Coast workforce, yet many are concentrated in low-paying and unstable jobs. Immigration status determines which industries immigrants can access. More than 40 percent of undocumented workers were employed in agriculture in 2021, compared to three percent of U.S.-born workers. Agriculture employs undocumented workers at high rates because it does not verify immigration status as rigorously as other industries and because undocumented workers have few other options. Lawful permanent residents also concentrated in agriculture (16 to 25 percent across the three counties) but at lower rates than undocumented workers.

U.S.-born workers and naturalized citizens worked primarily in education, healthcare, finance, and public administration in 2021. These industries require background checks, professional licensing, and employer verification that exclude undocumented workers and create barriers for lawful permanent residents. On average, naturalized citizens work in jobs more similar to those held by U.S.-born workers, but reaching those opportunities often takes years of legal status and additional training or certifications.

The concentration of undocumented workers in agriculture is not about preference or skill. It reflects which industries will hire workers without legal status and which industries are accessible when deportation risk, lack of work authorization, and language barriers limit options. Expanding pathways to legal status would allow immigrant workers to move into industries that match their skills and experience rather than being locked into the ones that will hire them.

Insights & Analyses: Central Coast

• The top industries employing immigrants across the region are agriculture and retail trade. 
• Across the region, many immigrants work in the construction industry. About 13 percent of construction workers in San Luis Obispo and 10 percent in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties are immigrants.

Insights & Analyses: San Luis Obispo County

• Within San Luis Obispo County, 34 percent of undocumented workers and 25 percent of lawful permanent residents are employed in the agriculture industry, compared to only three percent of US-born workers. 

Insights & Analyses: Santa Barbara County

• Within Santa Barbara County, nearly half of all undocumented workers (49 percent) and 20 percent of lawful permanent residents are employed in the agriculture industry, compared to only three percent of US-born workers.

Insights & Analyses: Ventura County

• Within Ventura County, 36 percent of all undocumented workers and 16 percent of lawful permanent residents are employed in the agriculture industry, compared to only two percent of US-born workers.