Business Climate

The City of Santa Monica has a robust and diversified local economy.  This document provides an overview of the citywide economy with additional information on the City’s leading economic sectors, top employers and top sales tax producers.

 Citywide Totals:

  • 9,731 businesses
  • 86,580 employees
  • 89,922 residents
  • 6.5% unemployment rate

Santa Monica’s Leading Economic Sectors - A Snapshot:

Creative Industries and Technology Sector (aka “Silicon Beach”)

  • 3,122 businesses, employing 29,241 people (34% of the City’s total employment) with an average annual payroll of $6.3 billion (56% of City’s total).
  • Santa Monica’s major tech + creative clusters: 
  1. Information (e.g., publishers, motion picture/video production, film distribution, postproduction, telecommunications, sound recording studios)
  2. Professional, Scientific + Technical Services (e.g. advertising, graphic design, computer design/programming, bio- technology R+ D) and 
  3. Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sectors.
  • Examples:  Activision Blizzard, Cornerstone on Demand, Hulu, Lionsgate Entertainment, Snap Inc. + Universal Music Group

Health Care Sector

  • 2,561 businesses, employing 10,152 people (12% of the City’s total employment) in the Health Care and Social Assistance sector with an average annual payroll of $740 million (7% of total payroll)
  • Examples:  Berkley East Healthcare Center, Cedars Sinai Medical Group, Kaiser Permanente SM, Kite - A Gilead Company, Neogene Therapeutics, Providence St John’s Health Center + UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
  • In addition to a growing biotech sector, Santa Monica is also a global wellness hub with GoodRX, GOOP, Headspace and FIGS Inc. corporate headquarters and health care educator Santa Monica College.

Hospitality and Tourism Sector

  • 506 businesses in the Accommodation and Food Services sector employ 12,537 people (14% of the City’s total employment) with an average annual payroll of $565 million (5% of City’s total).
  • 4.6 million visitors came to Santa Monica in 2023 (1.1 million from outside the USA).  Tourism is on the rise as Santa Monica welcomes back both domestic and international visitors. The top five international feeder markets are:  Australia/New Zealand, England, Canada, Mexico and Central America. 
  • The tourism industry is estimated to generate $938 million annually in revenue for the local economy.
  • National Geographic ranked Santa Monica as one of the “Top Ten Beach Cities in the World.”  And for a fun fact:  our historic Santa Monica Pier is the 2nd most Instagrammed place in CA and 8th most in the world. 
  • Coming soon:  Din Tai Fung (SM Place), a new hotel on Ocean Avenue designed by starchitect Frank Gehry, Fairmont Miramar Hotel + Bungalows renovation/rebuild featuring a Cesar Pelli-designed facility, and the luxury Regent Santa Monica Beach (completion renovation and rebrand of former Loew's SM Beach Hotel opening this year) with SM serving as their sole US location. 

Retail Sector

  • 770 businesses, employing 10,077 people in the retail sector (12% of Santa Monica’s total employment) with an average annual payroll of $874 million (8% of City’s total).
  • Santa Monica’s businesses generated $3.2 billion in taxable sales in 2023, of which 28% was generated in Downtown SM.  
  •  Purchases made at Santa Monica businesses last year raised $18.5 million in funding for our schools and an estimated $8 million for affordable housing construction and preservation (Measure GSH transaction and use tax). 
  • There are 1,700 businesses participating in the Buy Local SM campaign who hire local + actively support the community.  They employ approximately 3,900 SM residents; 47% are owned by SM residents.
  • Santa Monica embraces sustainable, green and eco-friendly businesses. The annual Sustainable Quality Awards (SQA) recognizes sustainable leaders; over 158 businesses have received this prestigious SQA Award.
  • See Top 25 Sales Tax Producers (below) for some of our noteworthy retailers.  Notable new openings include:  Barnes + Noble (3rd St Promenade/DTSM), John Reed Fitness (3rd St Promenade/DTSM), Moscot (MT Ave), Nike (SM Place- major renovation), Reformation (Main St), The RealReal (26th St), Trader Joe's (3rd SM location, DTSM) and Wilson's Sporting Goods (3rd St Promenade/DTSM).   Coming soon: Arte (SM Place), Google Store (Thir St/DTSM) and JD Sports (Third St/DTSM).

 

Top Employers in City of Santa Monica (by total number of employees)

  1. City of Santa Monica (2,252)
  2. Providence St. John's Health Center (2,094)
  3. UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica (1,965)
  4. Amazon.com Services LLC (1,929)
  5. Snap, Inc. (1,745)
  6. Santa Monica College (1,666)
  7. SM-Malibu Unified School District (1,664)
  8. HULU (1,363)
  9. Activision Publishing Inc. (1,294)
  10. Universal Music Group (1,151)                                                                                                                                                                              Top 25 Sales Tax Producers (in alphabetical order)
  • Apple
  • Audi Leasing Bentley Leasing
  • Chevron Santa Monica
  • Elephante
  • Fairmont Miramar Hotel
  • Fame House
  • Ferguson Enterprises
  • Honda of Santa Monica
  • Jaguar/Land Rover Santa Monica
  • JP Morgan Chase Bank
  • Lexus Santa Monica
  • Mercedes Benz Vehicle Trust
  • Pacific Park
  • Ring
  • Santa Monica Audi
  • Santa Monica Ford Lincoln
  • Santa Monica Proper
  • Shutters on the Beach
  • Snyder Diamond
  • Subaru Santa Monica
  • Tesla
  • Toyota Lease Trust
  • Toyota Santa Monica
  • Water Grill/Pier Burger
  • WI Simonson Mercedes