Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,477.
Homes are expensive, about for a typical one and times the Santa Maria metro’s $98K median household income. Overall it grades C+, 280th among California's 841 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 90% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Vandenberg AFB’s median rent is $2,747 a month, against $1,895 a month in California’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. On cost of living, just 6 of California’s 1,058 towns do worse. Vandenberg AFB has 1 place on the National Register.
Where Vandenberg AFB beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Vandenberg AFB | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 1.2% | 5.6% |
Where Vandenberg AFB’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within California), ordered by how far Vandenberg AFB is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 13,193 in 1970, 3,559 in 2020. The archive holds 19 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 3 maps from 1947 on.
Explore the history →Vandenberg AFB is unincorporated, so Santa Barbara County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Vandenberg AFB.
Vandenberg AFB carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of California (mostly inland flooding), has less heart disease than most of California and draws workers from Lompoc and beyond.
Its public schools are run by the Lompoc Unified school district. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vandenberg MiddleLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 565 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within CA on state tests and graduation
1,806 jobs are based in Vandenberg AFB, 2.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 11.2 minutes, against 28.7 across California.
Vandenberg AFB’s average trip to work is 11 minutes. Jobs based in Vandenberg AFB grew to 1,806 in 2023, 222 more than in 2013. 1.4% of Vandenberg AFB residents live below the poverty line.
| Vandenberg AFB | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 11 minutes | 28 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 1.4% | 10% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.3% | 6.6% | 8% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $95,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its widest gap with California is heart disease: 1.2% of its 2,341 adults have heart disease, against 5.6% statewide.
2.7% of adults have diabetes in Vandenberg AFB. Only 4 of the 847 California towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have high blood pressure than Vandenberg AFB. 22% of adults have obesity in Vandenberg AFB.
| Vandenberg AFB | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 2.7% | 12% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 7.6% | 14% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 16% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 31% | 35% |
| What stands out | Vandenberg AFB | CA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 1.2% | 5.6% |
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 2.7% | 11.7% |
| More binge drinkers | 26.1% | 15.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
30 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The trail density in Vandenberg AFB is 1.4 miles per square mile.
| Vandenberg AFB | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.4 miles per square mile | 1.0 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.1% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Cocheo Park | 0.1 mi | 13 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
January nights average 44°, milder than in 96% of U.S. towns; July afternoons average 71.3°.
Vandenberg AFB has warm winters and cool summers, with very little rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Vandenberg AFB | California towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 71°F | 89°F | 85°F |
| January low | 44°F | 40°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 90% of California towns; that rating is what its C+ for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Vandenberg AFB; the nearest are
About 14 of every 100 Vandenberg AFB residents are enrolled in college, against 8 across California.
United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California
Vandenberg Space Force Base (IATA: VBG, ICAO: KVBG, FAA LID: VBG), previously Vandenberg Air Force Base, is a United States Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County, California. Established in 1941, Vandenberg Space Force Base is a space launch base, launching spacecraft from the Western Range, and also performs missile testing. The United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 30 serves as the host delta for the base, equivalent to an Air Force air base wing. In addition to its military space launch mission, Vandenberg Space Force Base also hosts space launches for civil and commercial space entities, such as NASA and SpaceX.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Vandenberg AFB.
| Town | CA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandenberg AFB | #280 | C+ | D− | — | C+ | A |
| Vandenberg Village | #384 | C | D | — | B− | A− |
Vandenberg AFB and Vandenberg Village report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Vandenberg AFB with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Vandenberg AFB grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #280 of 841 in California. It grades A for health and C+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.