Work & commute · Vandenberg

Work & commute in Vandenberg, CA

Most working residents leave Vandenberg for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Lompoc (18%), Santa Maria (9%) and Santa Barbara (8%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

133 of 2,796 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,663 Vandenberg residents head out of town to work, 133 work right here, and 427 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Vandenberg.

2,663live here, work elsewhere

133live and work here

427work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Vandenberg goes to work

Lompoc3.4 mi away

18%515

Santa Maria15.3 mi away

9%244

Santa Barbara47.6 mi away

8%228

Vandenberg AFB2.8 mi away

6%166

Goleta39.3 mi away

5%139

Vandenberg Village (in town)right here

5%133

Eastern Goleta Valley42.7 mi away

4%99

Los Angeles126.4 mi away

4%98

Solvang20 mi away

3%70

Buellton16.6 mi away

2%54

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%1,050

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Vandenberg commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

31%

20%

28%

31%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

20%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Vandenberg is a commuter town

0.20jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.20 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Vandenberg are

560 jobs are based in Vandenberg. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Vandenberg’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Vandenberg

560 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Vandenberg residents hold

2,796 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

−16%

Jobs based in Vandenberg, 2013 → 2023: 663 → 560. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.