Lompoc Valley residents typically have shorter life expectancies and higher poverty rates than other areas of Santa Barbara County, the Lompoc Valley Community Healthcare Organization (LVCHO) said on Wednesday.

The organization met to discuss the 2025 Lompoc Valley Needs Assessment, which focused on both the city of Lompoc and Lompoc Valley.

The assessment also found that the area’s residents have lower incomes compared to the rest of the county, as well as higher overdose-related emergency room visits and housing and financial insecurity. 

The meeting was hosted by LVCHO Executive Director Ashley Costa. Maria Chesley and Mari Hickmann, consultants from Community Systems Consulting, broke down the results of the assessment.

“I hope you leave today seeing this community health needs assessment not just as an LVCHO report” but as “a community resource, a roadmap,” Costa said.

The assessment was put together based on data from 12 focus groups and a total of 50 participants, including Lompoc residents and service providers. 

It looks at the “social drivers of health,” Chesley said. “Things like access to healthy food, the transportation to get to work, so that you have the money to buy that healthy food, and leisure time for exercise, and (if residents) have the schooling to get that job that is needed.”

According to the assessment, the city of Lompoc’s median household income is $70,038, which is 27% lower than Santa Barbara County as a whole.

Both the city and the Lompoc Valley have higher poverty rates: 16.8% in the city and 14.1% in the valley, compared to the county’s 13.8% poverty rate.

The living wage of a household in Santa Barbara County — classified as the minimum income a family needs to cover basic necessities for two working parents with two kids — is roughly $151,000 a year, per Chesley.

“The median income in the county, and certainly in Lompoc, is below that,” she said.

One in four Lompoc adults have no credit file or score. Half of renters and a quarter of homeowners spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

“If one thing goes bad, everything else falls apart,” one focus group member said.

The average life expectancy in the city is shorter: age 77 compared to 81.5 within the county.

Lompoc also has lower rates of routine doctor checks in the past year, at 68.8% of the city and 69.9% of the valley compared to 70.6% of the county. One focus group member said when they lost their primary care doctor, they were told it would be a year before they could get another one.

Emergency room visits for drug overdoses are about 2.5 times higher in Lompoc Valley compared to the county.

While the percentage of adults with mental health issues who said those issues impaired their work during the past year is slightly below the county, the percent of adults with depression and adults who binge drink are on par with county rates.

Many people don’t seek help for mental health issues due to fear of embarrassment or stigma, the assessment found. Cultural differences also add barriers to accessing mental health facilities.

“I have the difficulty of getting help in my language,” one community member from the focus group said. “It’s not the same to be helped by someone who is culturally compatible with me as it is to be helped by someone who is American.”

Community members said they see a connection between the frequency of cannabis dispensaries in the area and the higher rates of substance abuse issues for both adults and adolescents. One member said more students have been seen vaping in the past five years.

Many residents in Lompoc also have long commutes and long work hours, with 29% of residents commuting 40 minutes or more to work.

Thirty percent of adults report no time for leisure or physical activity, compared to 24% of the county.

The focus group also highlighted positives for the area. One community member said they feel happier “because Lompoc is small and we know each other.”

The assessment also suggested opportunities for community engagement may be low, due to low participation at events and leaders’ responsiveness. Focus group members suggested more collaboration from organizations is necessary.

Focus group members also noted Lompoc struggles to retain and attract qualified professionals across sectors, particularly in healthcare, education and social services. Because of that, residents need to travel more for those types of services.

Lompoc Valley Medical Center’s Yvette Cope said the center plans to install a new clinic space at Vandenberg Village with six new primary care physicians. Each will be able to see up to roughly 1,000 patients. 

LVCHO is also seeking grant funding to improve care for residents with diabetes; 12% of residents in the area have diabetes compared to 10.8% in the county.