Economic hardship means living below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, the income threshold where families struggle to cover rent, food, healthcare, and childcare simultaneously. In 2021, hardship concentrated in specific Central Coast communities: Santa Maria, Goleta, and Guadalupe in Santa Barbara County; Oxnard and Santa Paula in Ventura County; and San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles in San Luis Obispo County.

The concentration reveals how economic insecurity clusters geographically rather than spreading evenly. In Oxnard, some census tracts had hardship rates exceeding 80 percent. In Santa Maria and Paso Robles, entire neighborhoods fell below the 200 percent FPL threshold. When hardship concentrates this heavily, it shapes everything from school resources to grocery store access to public transit routes.

Geography determines economic opportunity when jobs, housing costs, and wages vary dramatically across short distances. Communities with concentrated hardship often lack access to higher-wage employment, face higher housing cost burdens, and have fewer public resources per capita. The pattern is not random. It reflects where affordable housing exists, which industries employ local residents, and how regional growth has distributed economic gains.

To explore the data of economic hardship, please visit Economic hardship since 1980.

Insights & Analyses: Central Coast

• In Santa Barbara County, census tract-level data show that communities in Santa Maria, Goleta, and Guadalupe experience economic hardship.
• Ventura County census tract-level data show that communities with high levels of economic hardship are located in Oxnard and Santa Paula. In one census tract in Oxnard, 86 percent of residents live below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
• The census tracts with the highest levels of economic hardship in San Luis Obispo County were located in San Luis Obispo City and Paso Robles. In one census tract in San Luis Obispo City, 97 percent of residents live below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Insights & Analyses: San Luis Obispo County

• The census tracts with the highest levels of economic hardship in San Luis Obispo County were located in San Luis Obispo City and Paso Robles. In one census tract in San Luis Obispo City, 97 percent of residents live below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Insights & Analyses: Santa Barbara County

• In Santa Barbara County, census tract-level data show that communities in Santa Maria, Goleta, and Guadalupe experience economic hardship.

Insights & Analyses: Ventura County

• Ventura County census tract-level data show that communities with high levels of economic hardship are located in Oxnard and Santa Paula. In one census tract in Oxnard, 86 percent of residents live below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

Source: USC Equity Research Institute analysis of the 2021 5-year American Community Survey microdata from IPUMS USA and 2010 Tiger/Line Shapefiles (machine readable data files) / prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau, 2023. Note: Universe includes all people for whom poverty is determined. Data for 2017 represent a 2017 through 2021 average. Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, San Nicolas, and Santa Barbara islands estimates were not included because the population sizes of residents living on the islands were too small to provide accurate estimates. We defined economic hardship as those with family incomes at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The federal poverty threshold in 2021 for a family of four with two children was about $26,500 (thus, 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold was about $53,000). Poverty Guidelines provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, see here for further details: https://aspe.hhs.gov/2021-poverty-guidelines.