Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A city of 170,084, settled in 1884.
Lancaster grades D− overall, 793rd among California's 841 graded towns, mostly because of safety and schools. Its police reported 1,274 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 90% of U.S. towns. Its public schools trail 76% of California towns on state tests and graduation. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns. Lancaster’s violent crime rate is 7.7 per 1,000 residents, above both California’s towns (2.9) and U.S. towns (1.6). Lancaster is home to Antelope Valley Community College District. Lancaster's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 93% of U.S. towns.
Where Lancaster beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Antelope Valley Community College District | 9,781 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Lancaster is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 26,012 in 1960, 173,516 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1979 and 3 maps from 1930 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lancaster, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Lancaster.
Lancaster has more 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
Reported crimes fell from 4,393 to 3,918 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Lancaster reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 90% report less. The property crime rate in Lancaster is 15.9 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Two of its 56 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sundown ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 941 | – |
| Quartz Hill HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,175 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 87% of U.S. communities. Since 1998, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lancaster.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Lancaster home is worth about $461,000, down 0.7% in a year, 39% below the California typical home. Lancaster’s median rent is $1,764 a month.
| Lancaster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 61% | 55% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,764 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 60% | 64% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jobs based here grew from 31,506 in 2013 to 42,957.
About one in 4 of Lancaster’s working residents works in town. 16% of residents live below the poverty line in Lancaster. Jobs based in Lancaster grew to 42,957 in 2023, 11,451 more than in 2013.
| Lancaster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.8% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
71 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, at 139 acres.
| Lancaster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Prime Desert Woodland Preserve | 3.2 mi | 112 |
| 2. Apollo Park | 1.6 mi | 56 |
| 3. Sgt. Steve Owen Memorial Park | 0.9 mi | 61 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Palmdale weather station, 9 miles away, records that about 118 days a year reach 90°, more than in 98% of U.S. towns. July afternoons average 96.7°, hotter than in 98% of U.S. towns; January nights average 33.6°.
Lancaster has mild winters and hot summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Lancaster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 97°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 34°F | 41°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lancaster beats the California average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 20. 43% of Lancaster adults feel lonely.
| Lancaster | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 36% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 16% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 22% | 19% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Lancaster | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.3% | 6.4% |
| More adults facing housing insecurity | 22.2% | 14.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lancaster. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi LandmarkHollywood Sign
Big draw40 mi Theme parkUniversal Studios Hollywood8.7M visitors a year
Big draw30 mi Theme parkSix Flags Magic Mountain3.3M visitors a year
Big draw22 mi DamSt. Francis Dam
17 mi Park & preserveVasquez Rocks
39 mi Park & preserveGriffith ParkHollywood Sign: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Universal Studios Hollywood: 林振宇, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Six Flags Magic Mountain: Alton, CC BY 3.0 · St. Francis Dam: Stearns, H.T. USGS, Public domain · Vasquez Rocks: Thomas from USA, CC BY 2.0 · Griffith Park: Coolcaesar at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lancaster
About 7 of every 100 Lancaster residents are enrolled in college, about the same as California.
156,633 counted in 2010 and 173,516 in 2020; an estimated 170,084 in 2025.
Since 2020 the trend has turned: down 2%, after 10.8% growth in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
30 notable people were born in Lancaster.
City in California, United States
Lancaster is a charter city in northern Los Angeles County, in the Antelope Valley of the western Mojave Desert in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 173,516, making Lancaster the 158th-most populous city in the United States and the 31st most populous in California. Lancaster is a twin city with its southern neighbor Palmdale; together, they are the principal cities within the Antelope Valley region. Lancaster is located approximately 70 miles (110 km) north (via I-5 and SR 14) of downtown Los Angeles, 9 miles south of the Kern County line. It is separated from the Los Angeles Basin by the San Gabriel Mountains to the south and from Bakersfield an…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Lancaster.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster | #793 | D− | D | D | C− | C+ |
| Quartz Hill | #559 | D | C− | — | C− | B+ |
| Palmdale | #796 | D− | D | C− | C | C+ |
| Leona Valley | — | — | D− | — | C+ | A− |
Leona Valley has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Quartz Hill and Leona Valley report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Lancaster with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lancaster grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #793 of 841 in California. It grades C+ for health, D for safety and C− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 4.8 years of the area's median household income ($95,958 across the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
30 notable people were born here, including Dewayne Dedmon and Adam Wheeler.
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