Photo: Richard Niewiroski Jr. · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes put Alamo near the very top of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Alamo is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Poverty touches 2.1% of residents, where California as a whole has 12.0%. Alamo grades A+ for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Alamo apart on work
A lot of Alamo works from home
32% of Alamo workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Alamo workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Alamo’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Alamo’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Alamo is San Francisco, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (733) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Alamo has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Alamo went from 2,475 in 2013 to 3,488 in 2023, +41%. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Alamo’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alamo is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #12 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
The Census reports Alamo’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alamo could be anywhere from A to A+.
About 29 minutes each way for Alamo’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alamo workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,315 commuters (the 31% 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.
70% of the jobs in Alamo pay over $3,333 a month
3,488 jobs are based in Alamo.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alamo, 2013 → 2023: 2,475 → 3,488. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alamo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Alamo
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who leaves Alamo for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,883 residents head out to work, 242 work right here, and 3,246 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Alamo on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.57 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 2023, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Alamo clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
Alamo is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alamo is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #270 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Alamo near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,295 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 38% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 2.3% of Alamo households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Alamo’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Alamo ranks: 122nd of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Centerville UT | 16,480 | $123K | 3.1% | 2.3% | 7% | A+ |
| 121 | Clark Township NJ | 16,418 | $134K | 2.4% | 3.7% | 7% | A+ |
| 122 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| 123 | Lake Butler FL | 17,125 | $183K | 3.7% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 124 | Lake Zurich IL | 19,868 | $136K | 3.4% | 3.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Alamo, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work next door: 12% of Alamo’s workers
The biggest share goes to Walnut Creek (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alamo workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alamo | – | A+ | A | 29 min | $250,000+ |
| Danville | 4% | A | A | 33 min | $232,216 |
| Walnut Creek | 8% | A− | A+ | 31 min | $130,432 |
| Castle Hill | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 29 min | $250,000+ |
| Diablo | under 2% | A− | A− | 33 min | $248,150 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alamo’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 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Alamo: questions
What is the median household income in Alamo?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alamo?
2.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alamo?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alamo work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (12%, 23 mi), Walnut Creek (8%, 4 mi), Oakland (6%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alamo walkable?
Alamo is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alamo without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alamo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alamo
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.