Photo: Goldenrowley · Public domainHouseholds in Cotati have higher incomes than those in 84% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Cotati are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Below the poverty line: 8.2% of residents, where California as a whole has 12.0%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 1.0 in Santa Rosa.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Cotati
Where Cotati’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cotati is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #196 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($110,750, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cotati could be anywhere from B− to A.
17% of working residents work in Santa Rosa
Where Cotati clocks in
17% of workers
13% 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.
How many people are in Cotati by day
On a workday 3,266 residents head out to work, 153 work right here, and 2,558 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,600 people are in Cotati on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.79 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.
In Cotati, 31% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
2,711 jobs are based in Cotati.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cotati, 2013 → 2023: 2,771 → 2,711. 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 Cotati’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Cotati takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cotati workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,518 commuters (the 15% 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.
The distance from Cotati to work
About 15% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Cotati
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cotati is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #288 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.8% 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 4,149 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 27% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 3.9% of Cotati households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Cotati’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Cotati is 885th of 3,154 U.S. towns of 5,100 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 883 | Harvest AL | 5,955 | $102K | 11.3% | 1.7% | 1% | A− |
| 884 | Tehaleh WA | 9,561 | $156K | 1.4% | 6.4% | 1% | A− |
| 885 | Cotati CA | 7,347 | $111K | 8.2% | 3.6% | 4% | A− |
| 886 | Canterbury CT | 5,251 | $103K | 4.9% | 2.5% | 9% | A− |
| 887 | Rochelle Park Township NJ | 5,972 | $110K | 5.4% | 8.1% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,154 | 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 Cotati, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How Cotati compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Rohnert Park (9%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cotati workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cotati | – | A− | A | 29 min | $110,750 |
| Rohnert Park | 9% | B | A− | 27 min | $99,273 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cotati’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 Cotati: questions
What is the median household income in Cotati?
$110,750 (±$19,380) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cotati?
8.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cotati?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cotati work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Rosa (17%, 8 mi), Petaluma (13%, 7 mi), Rohnert Park (9%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cotati walkable?
Cotati is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cotati without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 27% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cotati, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cotati
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.