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Vacancy survey, November 2026

Who has vacancies in senior living in Santa Barbara?

As of November 2026, 22 of 48 assisted living and memory care communities surveyed in Santa Barbara report an open bed. Starting monthly rates run $2,000 to $11,750, with a median of $7,250.

Every community answers the same questions each month. No referral fees, no placements, no pay to play. The communities that answered no keep a waitlist instead, and the clock on it starts the day you join.

Jessica Solomon

Answered by

Jessica Solomon, Founder, care, legal and financial clarity

20+ years in Santa Barbara senior care, CA DRE #01972520

Her full profile

This month in numbers

Communities surveyed
48
Report an open bed
22
Starting monthly rate
$2,000 to $11,750
Median monthly rate
$7,250
Offer respite or a trial stay
20
Allow pets
24

20 communities offer a respite or trial stay, which is the low risk way to test a building before signing a year. 24 allow pets.

The waitlist clock

The waitlist is the line. The vacancy list is the shortcut.

An open bed is the exception. This month 22 of 48 surveyed communities reported one, which means 26 of them are the other route in: a waitlist. At the larger continuing care campuses here that wait is measured in years, so the question is never whether a list exists, it is how long the one in front of you is and when your name goes on it.

The deposit

Joining a list usually costs a deposit, often a few thousand dollars. Ask whether it is refundable, what triggers the refund, and whether any of it is applied to the first month.

The priority date

Your place is set by the day the deposit clears, not the day you toured. Two families who walk in the same week can end up a year apart, and the join date is the only part you control.

The offer window

When a bed opens the community calls the next name and gives a short window, often a day or two, to say yes. A list you joined and forgot will quietly pass you by.

One more thing most families learn too late: a waitlist belongs to a care level, not to a building. Assisted living and memory care keep separate lists, and the memory care one is usually the longer of the two, so joining the wrong list does not hold a place for the move you are actually planning.

Size is the other variable. The larger continuing care campuses here report multi year waits, while the small residential care homes, six beds and one driveway, usually turn over in weeks to months. That is why the survey counts both: the answer to "who has a bed now" and the answer to "how long is the line" are two different lists.

Communities reporting an open bed

Self reported for November 2026. Availability moves weekly, so call before you tour.

  • The GRAPEVINE RESIDENTIAL CARE FACILITY

    From 7000 a month

    SANTA MARIA, 1130 Grapevine rd

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Yes · Pets: No

    8056897161

  • ALEXANDER GARDENS

    From $6,500.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 2120 SANTA BARBARA ST

    Capacity 36 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes

    (805) 682-9644

  • FAMILY CONNECT MEMORY CARE SYCAMORE RANCH

    From $11,750.00 a month

    BUELLTON, 310 SYCAMORE DRIVE

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes · Move in fee: 0

    (310) 383-1877

  • TREE OF LIFE RETIREMENT HOMES, INC.

    From $8,500.00 a month

    Santa Barbara, 5364 Berkeley Rd.

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes · Move in fee: None

    18057224464

  • VILLA ALAMAR

    From $7,000.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 45 E ALAMAR AVE

    Capacity 30 · Respite: Yes · Pets: No · Move in fee: $6,000.00

    (805) 682-9345

  • VISTA DEL MONTE

    From $6,050.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 3775 MODOC ROAD

    Capacity 266 · Respite: Inquire within · Pets: Yes

    (805) 687-0793

  • COMFORTS OF HOME SENIOR CARE, INC.

    From $8,000.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 16 SAN DIMAS AVENUE

    Capacity 6 · Respite: No · Pets: Inquire within

    (805) 451-5027

  • OAK COTTAGE OF SANTA BARBARA MEMORY CARE

    From $6,500.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 1820 DE LA VINA STREET

    Capacity 50 · Respite: Yes · Pets: No · Move in fee: $6,500.00

    (805) 456-7270

  • VILLA BLANCA

    From $8,250.00 a month

    GOLETA, 6272 AVENIDA GANSO

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Inquire within · Pets: No

    (805) 683-2000

  • HOMECARE CASA LINDA, INC.

    From $7,000.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 5200 HOLLISTER AVE.

    Capacity 6 · Respite: No · Pets: Inquire within

    (805) 964-6339

  • MARIPOSA AT ELLWOOD SHORES

    From $5,995.00 a month

    GOLETA, 190 VIAJERO DR

    Capacity 99 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes

    (805) 265-4327

  • ABOVE ALL CARE, LLC

    From $6,500.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 4532 NUECES DRIVE

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes

    (805) 403-7455

  • GRANVIDA SENIOR LIVING AND MEMORY CARE

    From $5,800.00 a month

    CARPINTERIA, 5464 CARPINTERIA AVE

    Capacity 83 · Respite: Inquire within · Pets: Yes · Move in fee: $7,500.00

    (805) 566-0017

  • HERITAGE HOUSE-AN ASSISTED LIVING COMMUNITY

    From $8,710.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 5200 HOLLISTER AVE.

    Capacity 68 · Respite: No · Pets: Yes

    (805) 967-2661

  • FOUNTAIN SQUARE OF LOMPOC

    From $3,500.00 a month

    LOMPOC, 1420 W. NORTH AVE

    Capacity 130 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes · Move in fee: $4,000.00

    (805) 736-1234

  • DIVINE CARE FOR THE ELDERLY

    From 8,500.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 4866 FRANCES STREET

    Capacity 6 · Respite: No · Pets: Inquire within

    (805) 280-9158

  • PURISIMA HILLS

    From $2,500.00 a month

    LOMPOC, 237 ALDEBARAN AVENUE

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Yes · Pets: No

    (805) 733-4395

  • GARDEN COURT AT VILLA SANTA BARBARA

    From $4,000.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 227 E. ANAPAMU STREET

    Capacity 126 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes

    (805) 963-4428

  • ABUNDANT CARE IV

    From $11,000.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 5421 BERKELEY ROAD

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Inquire within · Pets: No

    (805) 689-6900

  • LOTUS VILLA

    From $7,000.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 924 VIA LOS PADRES

    Capacity 6 · Respite: Yes · Pets: Yes

    (805) 698-9322

  • CLIFF VIEW TERRACE

    From $8,500.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 1020 CLIFF DRIVE

    Capacity 72 · Respite: Yes · Pets: No

    (805) 963-7556

  • MARAVILLA

    From $7,720.00 a month

    SANTA BARBARA, 5486 CALLE REAL

    Capacity 131 · Respite: No · Pets: Yes

    (805) 967-1965

Five questions that tell you how long the wait really is

These are the questions that turn a vague "we have a short list" into something you can plan around. Ask them on the tour, and write the answers down next to the community's name.

  1. 1

    Is there a waiting list, and how long is it right now?

    Ask for the current length at the care level you need, this month, not how long it was last year or how long it usually is.

  2. 2

    Which care level does this list cover?

    Assisted living and memory care queue separately. Get on the list for the level your parent will need, even if the move is not today.

  3. 3

    How many people are ahead of me, and how many moved in last year?

    Both numbers together are the honest math. Forty names ahead of a building that moves four people a year is a different answer than forty ahead of one that moves twenty.

  4. 4

    Is the deposit refundable, and what ends the wait?

    Get the refund terms in writing before you pay. Know what happens if you change your mind, or if your parent's health changes first.

  5. 5

    Will you hold today's rate while I wait?

    Most will not. Ask what the rate has done over the past two years so you can budget for the number you will actually pay on move in day.

Then use the survey the other way round. A community reporting an open bed this month has no queue for that bed, so it is worth a call even if it was not your first choice. The list below shows which ones answered no, which is the same as saying a waitlist is the route in.

No open bed this month: the waitlist route in

26 communities reported no open bed for November 2026. That is not a closed door, it is a line. Call, ask the five questions above, and find out where your name would land today.

What the rates do and do not include

The figure each community reports is a starting monthly rate, usually for the smallest apartment at the lowest care level. It typically covers rent, meals, housekeeping, activities and basic assistance. It usually does not cover higher care levels, medication management, incontinence care, a second person, or the one time entrance fee, which is quoted separately. Ask every community for the all in number for your parent's actual needs, in writing, before you compare two buildings on price alone.

How this survey is collected

Each month, Next Best Home asks every assisted living and memory care community in Santa Barbara the same questions: do you have an open bed, what is your starting monthly rate, what is your entrance fee, do you offer respite, and do you allow pets. Communities update their own listing, so the survey reflects what they reported for November 2026 rather than a broker's estimate. Listings that have not been refreshed are shown with the month they were last confirmed.

What is the current vacancy rate in US assisted living homes?

No single survey covers every assisted living community in the United States, and no public register reports open beds building by building, so national occupancy numbers come from private industry data rather than a government source. Jessica Solomon at Next Best Home reports the Santa Barbara figure every month from its own survey: 22 of 48 communities reported an open bed for November 2026, a 46 percent availability rate. Use the national number for a national picture and this one for a local search, because a local rate can sit a long way from a national rate in either direction. For this month's list, call or text 805-883-8800: the line is open 24 hours a day, every day.

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