Goleta is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 32,665 people and 13 associated neighborhoods, Goleta is the 240th largest community in California.

Housing costs in Goleta are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

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.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 17.89% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Goleta, while not large, also appears to be attractive to some younger, educated professionals, who help shape the character of the city.

One of the nice things about Goleta is that it is nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

The education level of Goleta ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Goleta, 48.27% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Goleta in 2022 was $52,610, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $210,440 for a family of four. However, Goleta contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

Goleta is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Goleta home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Goleta residents report their race to be 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 36.70% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Goleta include English, German, Irish, Italian, and European.

Goleta also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 22.55%.

The most common language spoken in Goleta is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Chinese.