What we do
Assisted living vacancy survey
A monthly count of which local communities have an opening, what they charge and what the entry fee is. Every community updates its own listing.
The listing is updated by the community, not by a call centre
Each community receives a private link every month and fills in its own vacancy, starting rate, entry fee, capacity, pet policy and whether it takes respite stays. The date on each card is the date that community last saved it, so an old date tells you something too.
Vacancy moves faster than the printed directories
A guide printed in the spring is a directory, not an availability list. In a market this small, three or four openings can change in a fortnight, usually after a hospital discharge or a move to a higher level of care.
That is the reason this survey runs monthly rather than annually, and why the update date sits on every card in plain sight.
What the current survey shows
Thirty three licensed communities inside the city of Santa Barbara, with a median starting rate near $7,500 a month and a range from roughly $4,000 to $11,000. About half reported an opening at the last count.
Goleta, Carpinteria, Montecito and the Santa Ynez Valley each have their own counts, rates and openings on their area pages.
What this includes
- Vacancy, starting rate and entry fee for every surveyed community
- Respite and trial stay options, where a community offers them
- The date each community last updated its own listing
Where to go next
Talk it through with someone local
A short conversation is usually enough to work out which of these applies to your situation, and what to do first.