Goleta is a larger medium-sized coastal town (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of California. With a population of 55,367 people and nine constituent neighborhoods, Goleta is the 137th largest community in California.

Unlike some towns where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Goleta is neither predominently one or the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Goleta is a town of professionals, sales and office workers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Goleta who work in office and administrative support jobs (14.25%), management occupations (10.79%), and sales jobs (9.83%).

Also of interest is that Goleta has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Because there are quite a few people attending college in Goleta, it is thought of as a college town. To the benefit of the many students in the area, Goleta provides a number of services, amenities and opportunities geared towards their needs and activities.

In addition, Goleta is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates," which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.

The town is also nautical, which means that parts of Goleta are somewhat historic and bounded by the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Such areas are often places that visitors and locals go for waterfront activities or taking in the scenery.

Compared to the rest of the country, citizens of Goleta spend much less time in their cars: on average, their commute to work is only 16.20 minutes. This also means that noise and pollution levels in the town are less than they would otherwise be.

Even though Goleta is not a small town, it doesn't have a public transportation system that anybody uses for their daily commute to work.

Goleta Information and Demographics

The citizens of Goleta are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 39.02% of adults in Goleta have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Goleta in 2000 was $28,890, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $115,560 for a family of four. However, Goleta contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Goleta is a very ethnically-diverse town. The people who call Goleta home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Goleta is White, followed by Asian. Goleta also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 22.46% of the town's residents. Important ancestries of people in Goleta include German, English, Irish, Italian, and French.

Foreign born people are also an important part of Goleta's cultural character, accounting for 17.80% of the town's population.

The most common language spoken in Goleta is English. Some people also speak Spanish.