Photo: Pf1127 · CC BY 4.0Canyon Lake has higher household incomes than 91% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Canyon Lake is better than 75% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (B−). Poverty touches 7.3% of residents (California 12.0%). Working from home is the commute for 29% of workers (California 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Canyon Lake apart
Canyon Lake workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 48 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 368 hours of commuting, 146 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (42 to 43 minutes). Time on the road ↓
No single place dominates Canyon Lake’s commute
The biggest draw, Lake Elsinore, gets only 6% of working residents, and 57% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Canyon Lake residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Canyon Lake
29% of Canyon Lake 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Canyon Lake
Household income holds Canyon Lake’s grade up ($126,926, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Canyon Lake could be anywhere from B to A.
Commuting from Canyon Lake: about 48 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canyon Lake workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,194 commuters (the 29% 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.
6% of working residents work in Lake Elsinore
Where Canyon Lake clocks in
6% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Canyon Lake
On a workday 4,713 residents head out to work, 228 work right here, and 1,080 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,500 people are in Canyon Lake on a workday afternoon, 33% fewer than live here.
0.26 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.
Jobs in Canyon Lake: what the 1,308 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canyon Lake, 2014 → 2024: 1,184 → 1,308. 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 Canyon Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Canyon Lake goes to work
About 22% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Canyon Lake, the car does most of the work
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 4,501 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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 Canyon Lake households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Canyon Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Canyon Lake ranks: 915th of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 913 | Summit View WA | 8,480 | $109K | 5.3% | 6.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 914 | South Amboy NJ | 10,403 | $92K | 6.5% | 5.9% | 5% | B+ |
| 915 | Canyon Lake CA | 11,113 | $127K | 7.3% | 4.3% | 5% | B+ |
| 916 | Upper Leacock Township PA | 8,925 | $84K | 6.7% | 3.7% | 13% | B+ |
| 917 | Tittabawassee Township MI | 11,007 | $107K | 5.6% | 4.3% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 Canyon Lake, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Canyon Lake and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Lake Elsinore (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Canyon Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canyon Lake | – | B+ | B− | 48 min | $126,926 |
| Lake Elsinore | 6% | B | B+ | 43 min | $101,888 |
| Menifee | 3% | B | B | 42 min | $93,454 |
| Meadowbrook | under 3% | B− | B | 42 min | $56,212 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Canyon Lake’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 Canyon Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Canyon Lake?
$126,926 (±$12,232) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canyon Lake?
7.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canyon Lake?
48 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canyon Lake work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lake Elsinore (6%, 4 mi), Temecula (5%, 15 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Canyon Lake walkable?
Canyon Lake is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Canyon Lake without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Canyon Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canyon Lake
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.