Best PlacesSolvang, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Solvang, 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.
Solvang ranks 5,233rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Solvang
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.
Solvang's strengths and weaknesses
Where Solvang ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 183 pleasant days a year, better than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 98% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- Household income$126,332 median, better than 94% of towns
Where Solvang 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
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Solvang
A household needs to earn about $278,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Solvang home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $126,332, 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 Solvang's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Solvang
Solvang runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Solvang.
Who works in Solvang, and how
Work in Solvang centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Solvang
Solvang has more restaurants and bars per resident than 95% of towns and more parkland per resident than 92% of towns. The coast is about 16 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Solvang and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Solvang, month by month
Solvang sees roughly 183 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 Solvang
The nearest airport, Santa Barbara Municipal, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around Solvang
Schools across Solvang average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Los Olivos ElementaryA · 70% proficient
- Solvang ElementaryB+ · 55% proficient
- Santa Ynez ElementaryC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Solvang school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Solvang 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 Solvang against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Solvang
Is Solvang a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Solvang ranks 5,233rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, walkability, and biking, 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 Solvang expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $1,085,458. The overall cost of living runs about 43% above the national average. Set against a $126,332 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Solvang safe?
Solvang is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $453 per resident a year.
Compare Solvang with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Solvang. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Solvang 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.
Solvang detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Solvang: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Solvang: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Solvang: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Solvang: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Solvang 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.