With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Alta Sierra works elsewhere
261 jobs are based in Alta Sierra, and 2,496 of its residents work somewhere. For jobs and income Alta Sierra is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (D). Household incomes here are higher than in 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Alta Sierra apart on work
Alta Sierra is a place people come home to
There are 261 jobs based in Alta Sierra, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Alta Sierra has about 5,100 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Alta Sierra
28% of Alta Sierra workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
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.
Why Alta Sierra gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Household income holds Alta Sierra’s grade up ($105,603, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alta Sierra could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Who works in Alta Sierra, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,424 residents head out to work, 72 work right here, and 189 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in Alta Sierra on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Alta Sierra
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alta Sierra workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,394 commuters (the 28% 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.
19% of working residents work in Grass Valley
Where Alta Sierra clocks in
19% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Alta Sierra: what the 261 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alta Sierra, 2013 → 2023: 256 → 261. 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 Alta Sierra’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Alta Sierra
About 25% 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.
Getting around Alta Sierra: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,317 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 46% 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 Alta Sierra households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alta Sierra’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alta Sierra places 1,265th of 3,042 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,200 to 9,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,263 | Sewickley Township PA | 5,535 | $75K | 14.2% | 1.4% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,264 | Moores Mill AL | 6,378 | $97K | 11.2% | 3.6% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,265 | Alta Sierra CA | 7,361 | $106K | 6.3% | 3.1% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,266 | Meridian CO | 5,634 | $90K | 8.8% | 5.8% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,267 | Dumbarton VA | 7,997 | $60K | 12.1% | 1.9% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,042 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Alta Sierra, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Alta Sierra: questions
What is the median household income in Alta Sierra?
$105,603 (±$19,540) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alta Sierra?
6.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alta Sierra?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alta Sierra work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grass Valley (19%, 6 mi), Nevada City (7%, 9 mi), Roseville (5%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alta Sierra walkable?
Alta Sierra is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alta Sierra without a car?
0% 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 Alta Sierra, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alta Sierra
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.