Bonsall has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Household incomes here are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns. There are 928 jobs in Bonsall, against 1,873 working residents. Jobs and income earn Bonsall B; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bonsall: the gist
Bonsall’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bonsall is San Diego, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (304) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Bonsall makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Bonsall are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bonsall residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. 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.
The four measures behind Bonsall’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bonsall is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #434 of 847 in California. Household income holds Bonsall’s grade up ($113,537, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bonsall could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Bonsall
About 19% 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.
A place that makes things: 35% of Bonsall’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bonsall, 2013 → 2023: 1,120 → 928. 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 Bonsall’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Bonsall by day and by night
On a workday 1,753 residents head out to work, 120 work right here, and 808 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Bonsall on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
16% of working residents work in San Diego
Where Bonsall clocks in
16% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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 commute of about 31 minutes in Bonsall
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bonsall workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,318 commuters (the 21% 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.
Bonsall is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bonsall is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns, #780 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 1,661 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 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 1.1% of Bonsall households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bonsall’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,039 U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800, Bonsall comes 1,822nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,820 | Manor Township PA | 4,068 | $75K | 3.8% | 5.0% | 9% | B |
| 1,821 | Pacheco CA | 4,325 | $101K | 13.2% | 7.3% | 1% | B |
| 1,822 | Bonsall CA | 4,332 | $114K | 16.9% | 4.7% | 6% | B |
| 1,823 | Osage IA | 3,552 | $69K | 6.9% | 1.8% | 48% | B |
| 1,824 | Smithsburg MD | 3,212 | $101K | 15.7% | 4.1% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Bonsall, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Around Bonsall: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Oceanside (9%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Bonsall’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 Bonsall: questions
What is the median household income in Bonsall?
$113,537 (±$9,851) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bonsall?
16.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bonsall?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bonsall work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (16%, 31 mi), Oceanside (9%, 8 mi), Carlsbad (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bonsall walkable?
Bonsall is more walkable than 30% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bonsall without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bonsall, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bonsall
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.