Space Launch Complex 10 · Photo: U.S. Air Force · Public domainThere are 2.7 jobs in Vandenberg AFB for every working resident, and 1,784 people commute in
For 7% of workers, the job is at home, next to 17% for California as a whole. 1,806 jobs are based in Vandenberg AFB, and 657 of its residents work somewhere. Vandenberg AFB grades B+ for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Vandenberg AFB, in brief
A big share show a job far from home
70% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Vandenberg AFB is where the jobs are
Vandenberg AFB has 1,806 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Vandenberg AFB’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Vandenberg AFB is Los Angeles, 129 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (51) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 657 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Vandenberg AFB’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Vandenberg AFB is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #244 of 847 in California. The poverty rate holds Vandenberg AFB’s grade up (1.4%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (6.1%) is left out: Vandenberg AFB’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Vandenberg AFB could be anywhere from B to A−.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Vandenberg AFB
About 70% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who works in Vandenberg AFB, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 635 residents head out to work and 22 work right here.
About 4,600 people are in Vandenberg AFB on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
2.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Who travels to work in Vandenberg AFB, and from where
Where Vandenberg AFB clocks in
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
In Vandenberg AFB, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vandenberg AFB, 2013 → 2023: 1,584 → 1,806. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Vandenberg AFB’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Vandenberg AFB: about 11 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vandenberg AFB workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,765 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The commute in Vandenberg AFB is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vandenberg AFB is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #626 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 13.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,902 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.6% of Vandenberg AFB households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Vandenberg AFB’s commuters take a bus or train.
Vandenberg AFB next to U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700: 1,123rd of 4,535 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,121 | Whitewater Township IN | 2,755 | $87K | 1.0% | 4.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,122 | Minisink NY | 4,688 | $128K | 5.1% | 4.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,123 | Vandenberg AFB CA | 3,477 | $84K | 1.4% | 6.1% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,124 | Bay Pines FL | 2,519 | $68K | 11.5% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,125 | Crawford Township OH | 4,568 | $77K | 5.8% | 0.8% | 22% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Vandenberg AFB, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Vandenberg AFB and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vandenberg AFB workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandenberg AFB | – | B+ | B | 11 min | $84,167 |
| Vandenberg Village | under 2% | B | B− | 22 min | $110,904 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Vandenberg AFB’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Vandenberg AFB: questions
What is the median household income in Vandenberg AFB?
$84,167 (±$12,699) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vandenberg AFB?
1.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vandenberg AFB?
11 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vandenberg AFB work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (8%, 129 mi), Lompoc (7%, 5 mi), Santa Maria (6%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vandenberg AFB walkable?
Vandenberg AFB is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vandenberg AFB without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vandenberg AFB, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vandenberg AFB
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.