Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lompoc earns a D, ranked 631st of 841 in California, mostly because of incomes and safety. The median household income is $72K, and 17% of residents live below the poverty line. Its police reported 176 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 77% of U.S. towns. What it does well: it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. Lompoc’s July high is 73°F, against 89°F in California’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns. Lompoc has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Point Conception Light Station and Lompoc Public Library. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 83% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top.
Where Lompoc beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Mission de la Purisima Concepcion de Maria Santisima SiteEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Lompoc is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 226 in 1880, 44,444 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1787 and 4 maps from 1947 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lompoc, 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 Lompoc.
Lompoc fares better on crime within California than nationally and has milder winter nights than nearly all U.S. towns.
Since 1998, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lompoc.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Lompoc Unified school district. Two of its 15 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arthur Hapgood ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 768 | – |
| Lompoc HighLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,593 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
At 32.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 61% of California’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 979 to 633 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Lompoc’s violent crime rate is 4.1 per 1,000 residents. Lompoc reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 77% report less.
| Lompoc | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.9 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.5 per 1,000 residents | 13.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
About one in 5 of Lompoc’s working residents works in town. 7.1% of workers work from home in Lompoc. The top destinations are Santa Barbara (9%), Santa Maria (8%) and Goleta (6%).
| Lompoc | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 22% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Work from home | 7.1% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
8.6 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Ken Adams Park, at 84 acres.
| Lompoc | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.1% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ken Adams Park | 0.8 mi | 84 |
| 2. Ryon Park | 0.3 mi | 20 |
| 3. Beattie Park | — | 52 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Lompoc beats the California average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 69% of Lompoc adults had a checkup this year.
| Lompoc | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 72% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 16% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 22% | 19% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 36% | 33% |
| What stands out | Lompoc | CA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 17% | 10.6% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16% | 10.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 11% | 7.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Lompoc home is worth about $593,000, up 3.5% in a year, 22% below the California typical home. The median rent in Lompoc is $1,589 a month.
| Lompoc | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 64% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,589 a month | $1,898 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
January nights average 43.6°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 72.9°.
Lompoc has warm winters and cool summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
None within 15 miles of Lompoc; the nearest are
About 5 of every 100 Lompoc residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
3 places in Lompoc on the National Register of Historic Places.
24 notable people were born in Lompoc.
City in California, United States
Lompoc ( LOM-poke; Chumashan Purisimeño: lumpo'o̥) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called the area lumpo'o̥, meaning 'lagoon' in the local Purisimeño language. The Spanish called the area Lompoco after Fermín de Lasuén had established Misión La Purísima in 1787. In 1837, the Mexican government sold the area as the Rancho Lompoc land grant. After the U.S. conquest of California, multiple settlers acquired the Lompoc Valley, including William Welles Hollister, who sold the land around the mission to the Lompoc Valley…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Lompoc.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lompoc | #631 | D | C− | C− | B− | C |
| Mission Hills | #334 | C | C− | — | B− | B+ |
Mission Hills reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Lompoc with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lompoc grades D overall, better than 9% of U.S. towns and #631 of 841 in California. It grades C for health, C− for safety and B− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 6 years of the area's median household income ($98,161 across the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, 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 C−.
24 notable people were born here, including Julián Araujo and Margie Adam.
