Photo: Don Ramey Logan · CC BY 4.0Coto de Caza has some of the highest household incomes of any U.S. town
3.0% of residents are in poverty; California has 12.0%. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Coto de Caza grades A+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Coto de Caza in brief
Home offices are common in Coto de Caza
34% of Coto de Caza workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Coto de Caza is a place people come home to
There are 1,302 jobs based in Coto de Caza, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Coto de Caza has about 10,000 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Coto de Caza has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Coto de Caza went from 862 in 2014 to 1,302 in 2024, +51%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Coto de Caza
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Coto de Caza is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #16 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($243,816, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Coto de Caza could be anywhere from A to A+.
Coto de Caza’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Coto de Caza workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,006 commuters (the 34% 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 leaves Coto de Caza for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,829 residents head out to work, 313 work right here, and 989 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Coto de Caza on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
0.21 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.
65% of the jobs in Coto de Caza pay over $3,333 a month
1,302 jobs are based in Coto de Caza.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Coto de Caza, 2014 → 2024: 862 → 1,302. 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 Coto de Caza’s own residents hold wherever they work.
15% of working residents work in Irvine
Where Coto de Caza clocks in
15% of workers
4% 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 commute from Coto de Caza, by distance
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Coto de Caza, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Coto de Caza is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns, #724 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Coto de Caza 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 7,595 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 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 1.2% of Coto de Caza households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Coto de Caza’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Coto de Caza ranks: 138th of 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Westbury NY | 15,981 | $145K | 3.4% | 3.9% | 5% | A+ |
| 137 | West Caldwell Township NJ | 11,205 | $158K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 6% | A+ |
| 138 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| 139 | New Baltimore VA | 11,919 | $189K | 4.1% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 140 | Broadview Heights OH | 19,755 | $103K | 5.1% | 1.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 249 | La Cañada Flintridge CA | 19,480 | $242K | 3.5% | 5.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Coto de Caza, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Coto de Caza
The biggest share goes to Rancho Santa Margarita (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Coto de Caza workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coto de Caza | – | A+ | C+ | 32 min | $243,816 |
| Rancho Mission Viejo | under 3% | A | C+ | 29 min | $192,813 |
| Rancho Santa Margarita | 4% | A | B+ | 26 min | $152,560 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Coto de Caza’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 Coto de Caza: questions
What is the median household income in Coto de Caza?
$243,816 (±$16,391) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Coto de Caza?
3.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Coto de Caza?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Coto de Caza work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Irvine (15%, 12 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 56 mi), Rancho Santa Margarita (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Coto de Caza walkable?
Coto de Caza is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Coto de Caza without a car?
<1% 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 Coto de Caza, from the people who make the trip.
More of Coto de Caza
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.