Santa Barbara County has lost about 15% of its population of those ages 25 to 45 during the past 20 years and is expected to lose another 15% in the next 10 to 15 years.
Those numbers were shared by Peter Rupert, director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project, during his speech at the 2025 State of the County event at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara on Thursday.
During the event, officials stated that despite the county’s balanced budget, its operating costs have outpaced its revenue — and tariffs and other economic concerns could make it worse…