Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,477 in California.
Real strengths, and real weak spots. With a C+ overall, Vandenberg AFB is better than 40% of U.S. towns and ranks 280th of 841 in California. Where it falls short is cost of living (D−): the typical home is worth about , years of the Santa Maria metro’s $98K median household income. Health is its strong suit (A): it is healthier than 90% of U.S. towns. Incomes are another plus: the median household earns $84K. The town has 1 place on the National Register. Its rent at the middle of the market is $2,747 a month, against $1,895 a month in California’s towns and $1,185 a month across U.S. towns. Vandenberg AFB’s density of trails is 1.4 miles per square mile, above both California’s towns (1.0) and U.S. towns (0.4).
Figures: health, CDC PLACES · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · home values, Zillow · National Register of Historic Places · OpenStreetMap.
Where Vandenberg AFB beats most towns.
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 the reason it’s listed. 3 public schools serve Vandenberg AFB, with 1,421 students in all.
| 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 had 1,806 jobs in 2023, up 222 from 2013. The share of residents in Vandenberg AFB who live below the poverty line: 1.4%. Half of commuters travel less than 109 miles. The top destinations are Los Angeles (8%), Lompoc (7%) and Santa Maria (6%).
| 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.
In Vandenberg AFB, just over one in ten adults say their health is fair or poor. Only 5 of the 847 California towns we compare have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Vandenberg AFB. 7.6% of adults in Vandenberg AFB report frequent physical distress; 26% binge drink. The town does better than the California average on 19 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 6.
| 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 wind through 1 park or preserve. Vandenberg AFB has one park or preserve, 13 acres in all.
| 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’s January low comes in at 44°F. Snowfall is close to zero.
| 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.
56% of Vandenberg AFB’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by earthquakes at 25%. For Vandenberg AFB, the FEMA hazard score is 54 of 100.
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−.