Photo: Don DeBold from San Jose, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0Households in Capitola have higher incomes than those in 79% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Capitola are B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Below the poverty line: 12.9% of residents; California has 12.0%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Capitola: the figures worth knowing
Home offices are common in Capitola
28% of Capitola workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Capitola are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Capitola
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Capitola is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #287 of 847 in California. Household income holds Capitola’s grade up ($102,976, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down. 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, Capitola could be anywhere from B− to A.
The daily trip from Capitola: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Capitola workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,482 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.
Who commutes out of Capitola, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,376 residents head out to work, 290 work right here, and 4,593 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Capitola on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
18% of working residents work in Santa Cruz
Where Capitola clocks in
18% 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.
What work there is in Capitola: 4,883 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Capitola, 2013 → 2023: 6,357 → 4,883. 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 Capitola’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Capitola commutes less than 10 miles
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Capitola
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Capitola is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #32 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Capitola 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 4,852 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 87% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 6.6% of Capitola households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Capitola’s commuters take a bus or train.
Capitola is 1,103rd of 2,867 U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,101 | Ocean City NJ | 11,101 | $102K | 9.8% | 3.2% | 22% | B+ |
| 1,102 | East Vincent Township PA | 7,775 | $138K | 13.3% | 4.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,103 | Capitola CA | 9,340 | $103K | 12.9% | 2.7% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,104 | Bellmawr NJ | 11,874 | $77K | 9.6% | 4.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,105 | Caledonia Township IL | 7,246 | $104K | 4.2% | 6.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,867 | 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 Capitola, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work next door: 11% of Capitola’s workers
The biggest share goes to Live Oak (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Capitola workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capitola | – | B+ | A+ | 23 min | $102,976 |
| Live Oak | 7% | B | A+ | 22 min | $103,674 |
| Pleasure Point | under 2% | B+ | A | 23 min | $119,821 |
| Soquel | 4% | B | A | 23 min | $118,777 |
| Seacliff | under 2% | A− | A− | 24 min | $130,385 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Capitola’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 Capitola: questions
What is the median household income in Capitola?
$102,976 (±$14,547) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Capitola?
12.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Capitola?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Capitola work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Cruz (18%, 4 mi), Live Oak (7%, 2 mi), San Jose (6%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Capitola walkable?
Capitola is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.2 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Capitola without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Capitola, from the people who make the trip.
More of Capitola
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.