Immigrant workers sustain the Central Coast economy but faced some of the region’s highest rent burden rates in 2021. Seventy-three percent of undocumented renter households in Ventura County and 62 percent in Santa Barbara County were rent-burdened, meaning they spent more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Lawful permanent residents and naturalized citizens also faced high rent burden rates, though lower than undocumented renters.

Rent burden this high reflects a fundamental mismatch: the region needs immigrant workers but does not pay wages that cover housing costs. Immigration status compounds the problem, but the root issue is that working full-time in essential industries does not guarantee affordable housing.

Insights & Analyses: Central Coast

• A majority of renter households across each of the three counties struggle with the high cost of housing. 
• About 73 percent and 62 percent of undocumented renter households are rent burdened in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties respectively, rates higher than average.