The work of artists, musicians, writers and others in Santa Barbara County’s “creative economy” adds $3.8 billion to the local economy annually, a UC Santa Barbara study found.
“Without certain arts, arts education, music and theater…Santa Barbara would not be such a great place to be,” said Peter Rupert, an economics professor at UCSB who presented his assessment of the impact of the creative sector Tuesday to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.
Besides the total output from the creative sector, the county generated $1.3 billion in income from jobs involving creativity and $459 million in tax revenue, Rupert said.
The sector employs 11,232, both direct and indirect, in Santa Barbara County, about 5% of the total workforce. Those jobs run the gamut from entertainment and architecture to decorative arts and fashion. And in total, creative-worker pay wages that are about 10% to 15% higher than the countywide average for all workers, stated Rupert in unveiling findings from his UCSB Economic Forecast Project.
“Many people believe that there’s starving artists out there, but in particular, we actually don’t see that in the data,” he said. About 40% are self-employed, which means that the totals might be undercounted since some may not classify themselves as holding creative-sector jobs when they pay their taxes or otherwise report.
But the number of people employed in creative jobs is far less than other sectors. As a whole, creative-worker positions trail those in government, agriculture, health care, hotels and food services, manufacturing and construction. They only sector that’s smaller is among those working in education.
County arts officials said they were surprised to find that the county has 25% more direct creative-industries jobs than Ventura County, which is more populous and closer to Los Angeles County with its vibrant arts community and entertainment industry.
“We often think of arts and culture as the qualitative side over our lives. But really when we look at it more carefully and more critically, we foind that it has some significant quantitative aspects to it, said Jesus Armas, director of the county’s Office of Community Services which commissioned the study. “And then more locally it has some enormous influences on the local economy.”
Supervisors lauded the role that the arts play in the community.
“Santa Barbara is known for its natural beauty and for the artistic community — the theater, the visual arts, the music,” said Third District Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann. “It’s a happening scene that makes people want to come here both to live and to visit.”
