San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties’ declining populations

March 4, 2026

By KAREN VELIE

In line with the state of California, the number of people living in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties has declined since the 2020 census. But did the populations increase or decrease from 2024 to 2025? It depends which government agency provides the numbers.

While the U.S. Census Bureau reports a meager .5% increase in the nation’ population between July 2024 and July 2025, it lists five states with declining populations during the same period of time: California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Vermont and West Virginia, according to a Jan. 27 press release.

Even so, estimates from the state of California show a slight increase in population in the state between July 2024 and July 2025.

Even with the higher state generated population counts, both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties have lost residents since the 2020 census. The 2020 population numbers are from the April census report while the 2021, 2024, and 2025 counts are from the states estimates from July of each year:

San Luis Obispo County population

• 2020 – 282,424
• 2021 – 277,911
• 2024 – 278,935
• 2025 – 279,113

Santa Barbara County population

• 2020 – 448,229
• 2021 – 438,097
• 2024 – 444,754
• 2025 – 445,385

Amid the COVID lockdowns in 2021, both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties saw declining population numbers as a result of negative foreign migration counts along with a large number of citizens moving to other states.

A large increase in foreign immigration in 2024 appears to have offset population losses from domestic migration. From July 2024 to July 2025, both San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties saw increases in population because of foreign immigration and domestic migration.

San Luis Obispo County foreign immigration and domestic migration counts taken in July:

• 2021: -11 foreign immigration and -3,772 domestic migration
• 2024: 657 foreign immigration and -488 domestic migration
• 2025: 219 foreign immigration and 159 domestic migration

Santa Barbara County foreign immigration and domestic migration counts taken in July:

• 2021: -1,574 foreign immigration and -9,147 domestic migration
• 2024: 1,881 foreign immigration and -2,082 domestic migration
• 2025: 644 foreign immigration and 1,894 domestic migration

International immigration to the United States peaked at 2.7 million in 2024. It then declined to 1.3 million as of July 1, 2025. The U.S. Census Bureau projects international immigration will decline to approximately 321,000 people in 2026.

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