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Towns / California

Lompoc, California

Lompoc is a small city of about 43,000 people in Santa Barbara County, California. It has lost about 2% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 6.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Los Angeles, is about 126 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
43,315
down 2.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$472,900
Santa Barbara County prices up 17% since 2022
Household income
$72,004
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Santa Maria area
108.8
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
In town
Lompoc Valley Medical Center
To Los Angeles
126 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 8.8% above the U.S. average in the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 6.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood176 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 4.1 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 10.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town13 public schools: 8 elementary, 1 middle, 2 high schools and 2 other.
  • A hospital close byLompoc Valley Medical Center is in town and has an emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityLos Angeles is about 126 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Lompoc meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$472,900U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 17%Santa Barbara County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,589 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$72,004U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
49%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,737 a yearCalifornia: $5,124
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
4%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
108.8U.S. average = 100 (the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 17% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Santa Maria-Santa Barbara metro area, not Lompoc alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
43,3152020: 44,388
Median age
35.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
13%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
26%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
14%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
4%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (19%); arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (14%); professional and business services (13%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
17%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Lompoc Valley Medical Center, Lompoc, CA, in town. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 1 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

13 public schools in Lompoc, run by Lompoc Unified and Olive Grove Charter - Lompoc District.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on California's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
90%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
43°F
July average high
72°F
Days 90°F or hotter
5 a year
Nights at or below freezing
4 a year
Rain and melted snow
15.4 inches a year
Snow
0 inches a year
Elevation
80 feet

Weather station: Lompoc (1 mile away). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Santa Maria, Los Angeles.

Santa Barbara County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including La Purísima Mission, Space Launch Complex 10 and the Mission La Purísima at ’Amuwu District. Two are National Historic Landmarks, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Channel Islands National Park40 miles

Read about Lompoc's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lompoc?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Los Alamos, CA (unincorporated)1,163 people, 12 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.