Household incomes in Acalanes Ridge top those of 98% of U.S. towns
At home: 36% of workers have no commute at all (California 17%). The poverty rate is 1.5%, where California as a whole has 12.0%. Jobs and income earn Acalanes Ridge A+; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Acalanes Ridge in brief
Acalanes Ridge’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Acalanes Ridge is among the top U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Acalanes Ridge’s grade. It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (7.7%) is left out: Acalanes Ridge’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Acalanes Ridge stays A+.
From Acalanes Ridge, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Acalanes Ridge workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 277 commuters (the 36% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Acalanes Ridge on a workday afternoon
On a workday 486 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 226 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Acalanes Ridge on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.47 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Acalanes Ridge clocks in
13% of workers
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
A place that makes things: 30% of Acalanes Ridge’s jobs are in goods
230 jobs are based in Acalanes Ridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Acalanes Ridge, 2014 → 2024: 62 → 230. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Acalanes Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Acalanes Ridge works
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Acalanes Ridge is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 23.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 8.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 436 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 15.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Acalanes Ridge households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Acalanes Ridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
Acalanes Ridge is 13th of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Castle Hill CA | 1,026 | $250K | 0.2% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Rose Valley PA | 1,017 | $247K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 12 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 13 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 14 | Occoquan VA | 1,078 | $134K | 2.1% | 5.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 15 | Yarrow Point WA | 1,143 | $250K | 4.5% | 2.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Norris Canyon CA | 1,014 | $250K | 1.8% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Penryn CA | 1,114 | $127K | 2.4% | 5.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Acalanes Ridge, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work next door: 18% of Acalanes Ridge’s workers
The biggest share goes to Walnut Creek (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Acalanes Ridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acalanes Ridge | – | A+ | A | 27 min | $181,094 |
| Walnut Creek | 13% | A− | A+ | 31 min | $130,432 |
| Lafayette | 5% | A | A | 29 min | $228,250 |
| Saranap | under 3% | A | A+ | 29 min | $157,347 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Acalanes Ridge’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Acalanes Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Acalanes Ridge?
$181,094 (±$54,426) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Acalanes Ridge?
1.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Acalanes Ridge?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 36% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Acalanes Ridge work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (16%, 21 mi), Walnut Creek (13%, 2 mi), Oakland (8%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Acalanes Ridge walkable?
Acalanes Ridge is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 24% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Acalanes Ridge without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Acalanes Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Acalanes Ridge
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.