Photo: Adam Sofen · CC BY 2.0Fewer people are out of work in Cayucos (1.4%) than in 91% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 26% of workers (California 17%). Cayucos grades B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 65% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Cayucos at work: what stands out
Cayucos workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 42 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 322 hours of commuting, 100 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Cayucos
61% of Cayucos residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Cayucos pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A lot of Cayucos works from home
26% of Cayucos 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; with 893 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Cayucos gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cayucos is better than 63% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Cayucos’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cayucos could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
About 42 minutes each way for Cayucos’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cayucos workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 813 commuters (the 26% 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.
What the 453 jobs in Cayucos are
453 jobs are based in Cayucos.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cayucos, 2013 → 2023: 394 → 453. 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 Cayucos’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Cayucos
On a workday 784 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 344 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Cayucos on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.51 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 2023, primary jobs.
17% of working residents work in San Luis Obispo
Where Cayucos clocks in
17% of workers
8% 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.
Miles to work from Cayucos
About 27% 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.
Few in Cayucos walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cayucos is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.5% 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 1,105 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 0.9% of Cayucos households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cayucos’ commuters take a bus or train.
1,584th of 5,207: where Cayucos ranks among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,582 | Venango Township PA | 2,202 | $81K | 3.4% | 2.9% | 3% | B |
| 1,583 | Forward Township PA | 2,918 | $67K | 8.7% | 3.0% | 3% | B |
| 1,584 | Cayucos CA | 2,427 | $87K | 9.3% | 1.4% | 12% | B |
| 1,585 | Vista Santa Rosa CA | 2,333 | $70K | 5.7% | 3.4% | 3% | B |
| 1,586 | Sun Valley ID | 1,776 | $126K | 6.0% | 0.0% | 25% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Cayucos, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Cayucos and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Morro Bay (8%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Cayucos’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 Cayucos: questions
What is the median household income in Cayucos?
$87,235 (±$16,412) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cayucos?
9.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cayucos?
42 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cayucos work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Luis Obispo (17%, 17 mi), Morro Bay (8%, 5 mi), Santa Maria (3%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cayucos walkable?
Cayucos is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cayucos without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cayucos, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cayucos
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.