Barangay Santa Elena

Situated in Santa Rita, Samar, Barangay Santa Elena is one of 38 barangays that make up the municipality within Eastern Visayas.

According to the 2020 Philippine census, Barangay Santa Elena had a population of 944. This made it the 21st largest of 38 barangays in Santa Rita by population, placing it in the middle tier of the municipality. Residents of Barangay Santa Elena accounted for approximately 2.23% of the total population of Santa Rita, which stood at 42,384 in the same census year.

Between the 2015 and 2020 censuses, the population of Barangay Santa Elena changed from 948 to 944, a shift of -0.4% over the five-year period. This places the barangay among those with broadly stable populations in Santa Rita. Barangay Santa Elena is officially classified as rural, a designation applied to barangays with lower population density and predominantly non-built-up land use.

Santa Rita is a municipality comprising 38 barangays, and serves as the governing unit directly responsible for local services in Barangay Santa Elena, including public health, sanitation, peace and order, and civil registration. Within the wider province of Samar, which contains 951 barangays across its component cities and municipalities, Barangay Santa Elena ranks 255th by 2020 population. Samar is classified as a 1st by the Bureau of Local Government Finance, a category that reflects the province's annual regular income.

The barangay's legislative and executive affairs are handled by a Punong Barangay and the Sangguniang Barangay, elected nationwide during the Barangay and SK Elections. The next BSKE is scheduled for Monday, November 2, 2026, following the synchronized election schedule set by COMELEC Resolution No. 11191.