Page 2 of Best Assisted Living in Santa Barbara, CA

Why trust this guide? Our editorial team analyzed 15 assisted living communities in Santa Barbara, CA using CA Dept. of Social Services (CDSS) data, inspection records, complaints, amenities, and facility-level details. How we rank assisted living in CA
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Last updated
We analyzed These are the facilities in Santa Barbara, CA our team has analyzed — not a count of every assisted living provider in Santa Barbara, CA.
15 homes
Other senior care options in Santa Barbara:

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Info below is compiled from the CA Dept. of Social Services (CDSS), senior community websites & trusted data sources such as Walk Score & BBB.

Communities are listed from highest-ranked to lowest-ranked based on our methodology.

Care Types in This Table AL (Assisted Living): Housing with help for daily activities like bathing, dressing, and medication, without 24-hour skilled nursing. NH (Nursing Home): 24/7 skilled nursing care for residents with complex, ongoing medical needs. SNF (Skilled Nursing Facility): Round-the-clock nursing care, often for recovery after surgery, injury, or illness. MC (Memory Care): Secured, specialized care for people living with Alzheimer's or dementia. RC (Respite Care): Short-term temporary care that gives family caregivers a break. IL (Independent Living): Community living with dining, activities, and transportation for active seniors who need little personal care.
City and state of the facility. Used for mapping and state-average comparisons.
Licensed bed capacity (maximum allowed). Not the same as how many beds are currently filled.
Indicates whether residents are allowed to have pets in the facility.
Third-party neighborhood walkability score (0–100). Convenience/context metric, not a healthcare quality measure.
A 0–100 score of a facility's regulatory inspection record, shown as a letter and compared with other facilities of the same kind in the same state. This is a proprietary Assisted Living Magazine grade. It is not a government rating. A dash means we have no inspection data for that facility.
Count of regulatory inspections in the reporting window. Higher volume can reflect more oversight visits, complaint-driven surveys, or routine licensure cycles.
Visits or investigations linked to complaints, as counted in the state record (may differ from routine annual surveys).
Count of California state "Type A" citations — the state's most serious citation category (immediate or serious harm to residents), from California state inspection data.
Number of years the company has been in operation.
Reported or derived occupancy for the facility—typically how fully licensed capacity is utilized. Compare across peers in the same market.
Better Business Bureau grade for the operating company. Reflects complaint handling and business practices, not clinical care quality.
Name of the licensed owner, operator, or managing entity as filed with the state. Useful for grouping facilities under the same organization.
Housing or bed configuration options (e.g. studio, shared), often from facility-reported amenities and licensing details.
Alexander Gardens
AL
MC
Santa Barbara (Upper East)
36
Facility 36
CA AVG 103
Rank #957 / 1,350
No
64
Facility 64
CA AVG 56
Rank #589 / 1,411
C-13
5
Facility 5
CA AVG 13
Rank #556 / 1,292
6
Facility 6
CA AVG 3
Rank #1,085 / 1,338
10
Facility 10
CA AVG 13
Rank #588 / 1,299
63.9%
Facility 63.9%
CA AVG 74.1%
Rank #893 / 1,202
-Gl And Vl LLCPrivate Rooms / Semi-Private Rooms
Westmont of Santa Barbara
AL
IL
MC
Goleta
99
Facility 99
CA AVG 103
Rank #625 / 1,350
Yes
24
Facility 24
CA AVG 56
Rank #1,193 / 1,411
D-43
24
Facility 24
CA AVG 13
Rank #1,102 / 1,292
18
Facility 18
CA AVG 3
Rank #1,300 / 1,338
9
Facility 9
CA AVG 13
Rank #615 / 1,299
72.7%
Facility 72.7%
CA AVG 74.1%
Rank #658 / 1,202
AMariposa Mgr Gp Of Mariposa Oper And Westmont LivingStudio / 1 Bed
Santa Barbara Memory Care
AL
MC
RC
Santa Barbara (Oak Park)
36
Facility 36
CA AVG 103
Rank #957 / 1,350
Yes
76
Facility 76
CA AVG 56
Rank #354 / 1,411
D-43
24
Facility 24
CA AVG 13
Rank #1,102 / 1,292
23
Facility 23
CA AVG 3
Rank #1,322 / 1,338
15
Facility 15
CA AVG 13
Rank #432 / 1,299
44.4%
Facility 44.4%
CA AVG 74.1%
Rank #1,139 / 1,202
A+Pac Coast Inc., Pacifica Coast LP, And Santa Barbara Mgr1 Bed / 2 Bed
Covenant Living at the Samarkand
AL
MC
NH
SNF
Santa Barbara (Samarkand)
379
Facility 379
CA AVG 103
Rank #29 / 1,350
No
50
Facility 50
CA AVG 56
Rank #879 / 1,411
?8
1
Facility 1
CA AVG 13
Rank #199 / 1,292
2
Facility 2
CA AVG 3
Rank #679 / 1,338
33
Facility 33
CA AVG 13
Rank #59 / 1,299
85.2%
Facility 85.2%
CA AVG 74.1%
Rank #295 / 1,202
-Covenant Living West-
Casa Dorinda
AL
MC
NH
SNF
Santa Barbara
360
Facility 360
CA AVG 103
Rank #32 / 1,350
No
2
Facility 2
CA AVG 56
Rank #1,397 / 1,411
?12
4
Facility 4
CA AVG 13
Rank #498 / 1,292
2
Facility 2
CA AVG 3
Rank #679 / 1,338
32
Facility 32
CA AVG 13
Rank #76 / 1,299
85.3%
Facility 85.3%
CA AVG 74.1%
Rank #291 / 1,202
-Montecito Retirement Association-

Rank badges are statewide and care-type specific: each assisted living community is ranked against every other CA assisted living community we track that reports that metric, not just the 15 analyzed for Santa Barbara. See how we rank facilities

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Alexander Gardens

2120 Santa Barbara St, Santa Barbara, CA 93105
Overview of Alexander Gardens

Alexander Gardens Assisted Living proudly provides a home-like environment where its residents are treated like family. Residential living heeds a lifestyle of comfort. The community is where seniors thrive and retire gracefully thanks to the genuine support and care from a team of professionals. The assisted living home promotes a villa-type setting balanced with a permanent vacation feeling that can inspire residential living. This unique community is the last independently owned provider on Santa Barbara’s Upper East Side.

One of Santa Barbara’s most trusted communities, Alexander Gardens practices a person-centered approach, providing a reliable environment through maintenance-free services, housekeeping services, comfortable common spaces, and delicious dining experiences. They boast their highly trained care staff, spacious apartments, and a list of calendar-filled activities for an engaging and enriching experience during their stay.

Contact Alexander Gardens

Overview of Westmont of Santa Barbara

Have a blissful retirement with the distinguished senior living community of Westmont of Santa Barbara in Goleta, CA, which provides assisted living, independent living, and memory care services. With its commitment to improving residents’ quality of life, the community features purposely built and sophisticated amenities, alongside top-tier care and assistance. Residents have more time to do the things they love with a compassionate and highly trained team caring for their personal needs and household responsibilities.

Here, residents always have something new to learn with a full calendar of enjoyable activities and engaging events that encourage them to maintain an active lifestyle. Delightful and healthy meals are also available throughout the day, ensuring residents have a satisfactory dining experience. Westmont of Santa Barbara doubles its efforts to create a haven where residents thrive and reach their full potential with its state-of-the-art amenities and a trusted community.

Contact Westmont of Santa Barbara

Overview of Santa Barbara Memory Care

Santa Barbara Memory Care is an independent living, assisted living, and memory care home with an exquisite environment guaranteed to make residents feel welcome in their friendly atmosphere. The senior living community provides a life of amenities and services that create a comfortable and secure environment for residents. Whatever you seek, the community is ready to help and offer it. Santa Barbara Memory Care is an elegant community that ensures the trust and dedication of the staff to provide quality care and service – which families have recognized time and time again.

Santa Barbara Memory Care’s lifestyle is centered on the comfort and flexibility of its residents through residential assisted living amenities and services such as housekeeping, laundry, social events, recreational activities, fitness classes, medication management, and transportation.

Contact Santa Barbara Memory Care

Overview of Covenant Living at the Samarkand

Covenant Living at the Samarkand is a senior living community that mainly provides services for residential living, assisted living, and skilled nursing seniors. The senior living community is dedicated to empowering all residents to live on their terms. The resort-like community boasts a relaxing and calming experience for its residents because it allows them to choose a lifestyle that matches their needs independently.
The Covenant Senior Living lifestyle is all about convenience and individuality. Many of their amenities and services are designed to ensure that a resident’s needs are met and satisfied. These include a library, wellness center, courtyard, and garden, and an arts and crafts studio, while services include housekeeping, laundry, and transportation.

Contact Covenant Living at the Samarkand

Casa Dorinda

300 Hot Springs Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93108
Overview of Casa Dorinda

Casa Dorinda provides assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing care in Santa Barbara, California. Assisted living includes help with daily tasks such as dressing, bathing, and medication while a resident keeps an apartment. Memory care offers a secured setting with supervision for someone at risk of wandering, while skilled nursing provides licensed nursing care on site around the clock.

Having these care levels within one community can suit a resident whose needs grow over time, since different levels of support remain available without requiring a move to another community. Casa Dorinda has 360 beds, making it a larger community with more residents and staff, as well as programming on a larger scale. Total nurse staffing is 2 hours and 33 minutes per resident each day, representing the amount of nurse staffing time allocated to each resident across a day.

Residents can use the pool and take part in cultural events, arts and crafts, fitness classes, and nature walks. These activities provide options for exercise, creative work, cultural programming, and time outdoors. Medicare and private pay are accepted, giving families the option to use Medicare coverage or pay directly. Montecito Retirement Association operates Casa Dorinda, and Brian McCague serves as administrator.

Contact Casa Dorinda

Weighting overview

  • 35%
    Resident Experience
  • 25%
    Regulatory
  • 15%
    Visual Media
  • 10%
    Website
  • 10%
    Stability
  • 5%
    Environment
01

Resident & Family Experience 35%

The single largest share of every ranking. Aggregated review sentiment and volume from major platforms — the closest signal to real resident experience.

  • Includes
  • Review Sentiment
  • Review Volume
02

Regulatory & Safety Record 25%

State inspection records, citations, and complaint visits. We weight per-inspection rates more heavily than raw counts.

  • Includes
  • State Inspections
  • Citations/Inspection
  • % Inspections w/ Citations
  • Complaint Visits
  • Accreditations
  • BBB Rating
03

Visual Media & Transparency 15%

Communities that publish high-quality visuals give families a real preview. No photos or tours = a negative transparency signal.

  • Includes
  • Video Tours
  • Virtual Walkthroughs
  • Photo Quantity
  • Photo Quality
04

Website & Operator Transparency 10%

Site quality and whether the operator publishes basic accountability information — staff names, contact details, ownership.

  • Includes
  • Website Content
  • Mobile Usability
  • Staff Info Available
  • Owner Info Available
05

Community Stability 10%

Operational signals indicating whether a community is well-run and meeting demand.

  • Includes
  • Occupancy Rate
  • Bed Options
06

Environment & Pricing 5%

Walkability and pricing transparency. Walk Score is weighted higher for Independent Living than for Memory Care, where most residents do not leave unaccompanied.

  • Includes
  • Walk Score
  • Pricing Transparency
No paid rankings Communities cannot pay to influence placement.
How we're paid: If we help you find a community and you move in, that community may pay us a referral fee. This never affects where they rank or what you pay. Learn more
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Assisted Living in Santa Barbara at a glance

Avg Walk Score: 53/ 100The average Walk Score across facilities in Santa Barbara, CA. A third-party neighborhood walkability score (0–100) measuring convenience and context, not healthcare quality. Individual facilities can vary widely from this average.
National Average: 50/ 100
Avg No. of Beds: 112The average licensed bed capacity across facilities in Santa Barbara, CA. Individual facilities can vary widely from this average.
National Average: 90
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Frequently Asked Questions about Assisted Living in Santa Barbara, CA

What's the difference between assisted living and memory care in California?

Assisted living in California supports residents with daily activities (bathing, dressing, medication management) while preserving independence. Memory care is a specialized form of assisted living for residents living with Alzheimer's or dementia, and adds 24/7 secured environments, dementia-trained staff, and structured routines designed to reduce confusion and wandering.

What's the difference between assisted living and a nursing home in California?

Assisted living in California is a residential model focused on housing, hospitality, and help with daily activities. Nursing homes (skilled nursing facilities) provide 24/7 medical care from licensed nurses for residents with significant health needs, and are regulated more strictly under both state and federal CMS rules.

Does California Medicaid cover assisted living?

California Medicaid does not directly pay room-and-board for assisted living, but most states (including California) offer Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waivers that can offset the cost of care services delivered inside a licensed community. Eligibility, waitlists, and covered services vary — check directly with the state Medicaid agency.

What is assisted living?

Assisted living combines private or semi-private apartments with help on activities of daily living (meals, bathing, dressing, medication management) and a social calendar — for residents who need some support but do not need 24/7 medical care.

How many assisted living facilities are listed on this page?

This page features 15 assisted living facilities in Santa Barbara, CA. Use the filters and comparison tools above to compare ratings, amenities, and pricing.

How do I choose the right assisted living facility in Santa Barbara, CA?

Start by matching the level of care offered to the resident's current and anticipated needs, then compare licensing status, staff-to-resident ratios, recent inspection results, and pricing. Tour at least two or three communities in Santa Barbara, CA, talk to current residents and families, and confirm what is included in the base rate versus billed as add-on services.

What should I look for when visiting assisted living facilities in Santa Barbara, CA?

Pay attention to staff interactions with residents, cleanliness and odor, food quality at meal times, the activity calendar, and how questions about pricing and care plans are answered. Ask to see the most recent state inspection report, the move-out / level-of-care-change policy, and a sample monthly bill that lists every fee.