Multiple families sharing a two-bedroom apartment, children without space for homework, adults without privacy: this is overcrowding, and it affected 22 percent of Santa Barbara County residents in 2021. Latinx households bore the heaviest burden, with 45 percent of Latinx immigrants living in overcrowded conditions.

Overcrowding fell most heavily on Latinx and Asian American households across all three counties. In Santa Barbara County in 2021, 45 percent of Latinx immigrants and 35 percent of U.S.-born Latinx residents lived in overcrowded households. In Ventura County, 35 percent of Latinx immigrants and 26 percent of U.S.-born Latinx residents lived overcrowded. Even in San Luis Obispo County, where overall overcrowding was lowest, 25 percent of Latinx immigrants and 15 percent of U.S.-born Latinx residents lived in overcrowded conditions.

Overcrowding reflects wages that cannot cover housing costs. Families double up or triple up because rent for adequately sized housing costs more than they earn. When multiple families share a two-bedroom apartment, it is not preference. It is the only way to afford a place to live.

Insights & Analyses: Central Coast

• Latinx, both U.S.-born and immigrant, are most likely to live in overcrowded households across the three counties (households with more than one person per room).
• Overcrowding seems to be highest in Santa Barbara County (22 percent). About 45 percent of Latinx immigrants and 35 percent of Latinx U.S.-born residents live in overcrowded households in Santa Barbara County. 
• Overcrowding is the second highest in Ventura County, with 15 percent of residents living in crowded households. About 35 percent of Latinx immigrants and 26 percent of Latinx U.S.-born residents live in overcrowded households. 
• About 25 percent of Latinx immigrants and 15 percent of Latinx U.S.-born residents live in overcrowded households compared to 7 percent on average in San Luis Obispo County.