Photo: Amin Eshaiker · CC BY-SA 3.0Alpine has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
2,696 jobs are based in Alpine, and 6,504 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Alpine is better than 73% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (B−). Measured by household income, Alpine is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Alpine: the figures worth knowing
Alpine and San Diego trade workers both ways
San Diego is the top workplace for Alpine residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Alpine come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Alpine has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Alpine went from 1,797 in 2013 to 2,696 in 2023, +50%. 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.
The four measures behind Alpine’s grade
Household income holds Alpine’s grade up ($108,660, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.0%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alpine could be anywhere from B to A.
33% of working residents work in San Diego
Where Alpine clocks in
33% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 34% of the jobs in Alpine
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alpine, 2013 → 2023: 1,797 → 2,696. 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 Alpine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Alpine, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 6,021 residents head out to work, 483 work right here, and 2,213 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Alpine on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
About 30 minutes to work from Alpine
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alpine workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,444 commuters (the 16% 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.
Alpine’s commute, mile by mile
About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Most of Alpine commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,489 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 16% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.3% of Alpine households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Alpine’s commuters take a bus or train.
830th of 1,969: where Alpine ranks among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 133 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 828 | Eatontown NJ | 13,607 | $90K | 4.4% | 6.7% | 9% | B+ |
| 829 | St. Marys Township OH | 11,069 | $75K | 6.8% | 1.4% | 23% | B+ |
| 830 | Alpine CA | 15,180 | $109K | 13.0% | 3.0% | 7% | B+ |
| 831 | Amherst OH | 12,974 | $91K | 6.2% | 4.8% | 10% | B+ |
| 832 | Bound Brook NJ | 13,038 | $91K | 11.1% | 4.1% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,969 | 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 Alpine, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Around Alpine: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alpine workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine | – | B+ | B− | 30 min | $108,660 |
| Harbison Canyon | under 2% | B+ | D | 31 min | $130,302 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alpine’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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Alpine: questions
What is the median household income in Alpine?
$108,660 (±$7,667) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alpine?
13.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alpine?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alpine work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (33%, 21 mi), El Cajon (9%, 12 mi), La Mesa (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alpine walkable?
Alpine is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alpine without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alpine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alpine
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.