Overall
Diff +1.7 RPP
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara vs Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
Cost of living comparison based on BEA Regional Price Parities. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is 1.6% more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara.
1.6% more expensive
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA is 1.6% more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA on BEA Regional Price Parities (overall RPP 110.5 vs 108.8). A $100,000 salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara buys about the same as $101,596 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura; the largest component gap is rents.
- Overall RPP 108.8 (Santa Maria-Santa Barbara) vs 110.5 (Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura)
- $100k in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara ≈ $101,596 purchasing power in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
- Rents drives the gap (+19.7 RPP points)
RPP parity plate
Pair CA:CA 108.8→110.5
PHOTO-FINISH · SAME-STATE · SPLIT-BUDGET · BOTH-ABOVE · PP-PAR
- PHOTO-FINISH Photo finish
- SAME-STATE Same state · CA
- SPLIT-BUDGET Split budget
- BOTH-ABOVE Both above 100
- PP-PAR PP near-par
Instrument codes from this pair's BEA Regional Price Parities (overall · goods · services · rents · national benchmark 100 · purchasing-power conversion), not a ranking or recommendation.
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara
108.8
Cost Index
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
110.5
Cost Index
What This Comparison Actually Tells You
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA are a photo finish on overall price level, only 1.7 RPP points apart. A salary conversion is therefore a fine adjustment, not evidence of a fundamentally different cost regime.
Rents creates the largest separation: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is 19.7 points higher. But goods move against the overall direction, so this is a split budget rather than a clean across-the-board winner.
Comparable population context is incomplete for this pair, so no market-scale explanation is inferred from the price indexes.
Both metros exceed the U.S. benchmark of 100. The choice is between two national premiums, so local wages need to clear the higher baseline in either market.
For a housing-sensitive move, validate the rent gap first: HUD Fair Market Rent and the actual unit size can overturn what the blended index implies. On the BEA ratio alone, $100,000 in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara corresponds to $101,596 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura.
Category Breakdown
Goods
Diff 0.0 RPP
Services
Diff +3.1 RPP
Rents
Diff +19.7 RPP
| Category | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 108.8 | 110.5 | +1.7 |
| Goods | 105.2 | 105.2 | 0.0 |
| Services | 149.8 | 152.9 | +3.1 |
| Rents | 151.4 | 171.1 | +19.7 |
Visual Comparison
Overall
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 108.8
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 110.5
Goods
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 105.2
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 105.2
Services
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 149.8
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 152.9
Rents
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara 151.4
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura 171.1
Vertical line = national average (100)
How the Price Gap Changed
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura share 17 published annual releases from 2008 through 2024. Their overall gap held broadly steady, moving from 2.0 to 1.7 RPP points. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura remained the higher-index metro in the latest release.
Rents changed the most within this pair: its gap moved 24.1 points between the first and latest shared releases (4.4 to 19.7 points). This describes a relative price-index history, not a forecast or a household budget.
| Release Year | Santa Maria-Santa Barbara RPP | Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura RPP | Relative Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 107.5 | 109.5 | 2.0 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2012 | 110.0 | 110.4 | 0.4 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2016 | 106.6 | 111.2 | 4.6 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
| 2020 | 112.0 | 111.3 | 0.6 points Santa Maria-Santa Barbara higher |
| 2024 | 108.8 | 110.5 | 1.7 points Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura higher |
Annual BEA Regional Price Parity releases; a higher index means a higher price level relative to the national average of 100. Selected years shown from the full shared series.
Salary Equivalents
What a salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara would need to be in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura for the same purchasing power:
| In Santa Maria-Santa Barbara | In Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $50,798 | +$798 |
| $75,000 | $76,197 | +$1,197 |
| $100,000 | $101,596 | +$1,596 |
| $150,000 | $152,393 | +$2,393 |
$ in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara = in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura
Same BEA Regional Price Parity ratio as the table above (108.8 → 110.5), computed live from your number, nothing is sent anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara?
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is 1.6% more expensive than Santa Maria-Santa Barbara. The overall cost index is 110.5 vs 108.8 (national average = 100).
What salary in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura equals $100K in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara?
A $100,000 salary in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara has the same purchasing power as $101,596 in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura. This is based on the BEA Regional Price Parity indexes.
How do rents compare between Santa Maria-Santa Barbara and Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura?
Rents in Santa Maria-Santa Barbara are indexed at 151.4 while Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura is at 171.1 (national average = 100). Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura has higher rents.
Data sources
- BEA Regional Price Parities (RPP), the cost-of-living indices shown on this page
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS), gross-rent observations behind the rents component
- BLS Consumer Price Index (CPI), goods and services price relatives
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), labor-driven services component
- HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR), 40th-percentile rent cross-reference
Every figure on PlainCost is rendered directly from BEA Regional Price Parity source data, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, our changelog, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-08-11. Rankings measure the published cost-of-living index only; we don't recommend where to live or rate any metro's quality of life.