Best PlacesBuellton, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buellton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Buellton ranks 11,734th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Buellton
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Buellton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buellton ranks high
- BikingBetter than 99% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 187 pleasant days a year, better than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of towns
Where Buellton ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,613 a month, better than only 2% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buellton
A household needs to earn about $222,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buellton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $101,799, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Buellton's effective rate of 0.61%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buellton
Buellton's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Buellton.
Who works in Buellton, and how
Work in Buellton centers on education and public administration. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Buellton
Buellton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 96% of towns. The coast is about 12 minutes away. That concentrates in some parts of Buellton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Buellton, month by month
Buellton sees roughly 187 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 65, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 65° | 50° | 39° |
| April | 72° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 87° | 67° | 54° |
| October | 81° | 61° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Buellton
The nearest airport, Santa Maria Public/Capt G Allan Hancock Field, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 109 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buellton
Schools across Buellton average a B−, better than 56% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Vista De Las CrucesA+ · 75% proficient
- Los Olivos ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Solvang ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lompoc Valley MiddleD · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Lompoc HighB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buellton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buellton measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Buellton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buellton
Is Buellton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buellton ranks 11,734th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, the weather, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buellton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $872,968. The overall cost of living runs about 24% above the national average. Set against a $101,799 median income, cost of living beats 51% of towns.
Is Buellton safe?
Buellton is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $505 per resident a year.
Compare Buellton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buellton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buellton represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Buellton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buellton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buellton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buellton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buellton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buellton detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.