Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 19.8 mi. 19.3 mi of it is land and 0.4 mi of it (2.23%) is water.
Santa Maria is generally situated north of the unincorporated township of Orcutt, south of the Santa Maria River (which serves as the line between Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County) and surrounded on the west and east by agricultural fields. The city of Guadalupe is approximately 9 miles to the west of Santa Maria.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 77,423 people, 22,146 households, and 16,653 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,546.5/km˛ (4,005.8/mi˛). There were 22,847 housing units at an average density of 456.4/km˛ (1,182.1/mi˛). The racial makeup of the city was 58.07% White, 1.87% African American, 1.76% Native American, 4.74% Asian, 0.18% Pacific Islander, 28.02% from other races, and 5.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 59.67% of the population.
There were 22,146 households out of which 42.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% were married couples living together, 13.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 20.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.40 and the average family size was 3.85.
In the city the population was spread out with 31.6% under the age of 18, 11.6% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 15.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 103.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $36,541, and the median income for a family was $39,277. Males had a median income of $28,700 versus $22,364 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,780. About 15.5% of families and 19.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.5% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over


