Photo: ASDFGH · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Covina (6.9%) is higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. For jobs and income Covina is better than 68% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). Household incomes here are higher than in 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Covina stands out on work
Covina trades workers with the towns around it
Covina has about as many jobs (19,772) as working residents (21,085), but they are mostly different people: 19,710 residents leave for work each day while 18,397 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Covina are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Covina’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Covina is Los Angeles, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (2,941) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Covina draws workers from far and wide
The 19,772 jobs in Covina are filled from a wide area. Covina’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 30%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Covina: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Covina’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Covina could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 19,710 residents head out to work, 1,375 work right here, and 18,397 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.94 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.
How far it is to work from Covina
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.
14% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Covina clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
Inside Covina’s 19,772 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Covina, 2013 → 2023: 18,571 → 19,772. 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 Covina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Covina: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Covina workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,488 commuters (the 13% 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.
Covina is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.5% 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 24,567 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 3.0% of Covina households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Covina’s commuters take a bus or train.
Covina is 439th of 887 U.S. towns of 35,000 to 67,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| 3 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 437 | Poughkeepsie NY | 45,986 | $98K | 8.2% | 4.6% | 19% | B+ |
| 438 | Aspen Hill MD | 53,279 | $112K | 9.7% | 7.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 439 | Covina CA | 49,404 | $99K | 8.9% | 6.9% | 7% | B+ |
| 440 | Cutler Bay FL | 44,750 | $89K | 9.7% | 4.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 441 | Orangevale CA | 35,958 | $100K | 10.4% | 5.1% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 887 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Covina, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Covina
The biggest share goes to West Covina (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Covina workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covina | – | B+ | A | 31 min | $98,671 |
| Charter Oak | under 3% | B | A | 27 min | $88,393 |
| West Covina | 3% | B+ | A− | 33 min | $101,065 |
| San Dimas | 2% | A− | B | 32 min | $105,321 |
| Vincent | under 3% | B+ | A− | 31 min | $100,443 |
| Citrus | under 3% | B+ | B+ | 33 min | $103,465 |
| Glendora | 2% | A− | A | 33 min | $113,569 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Covina’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 Covina: questions
What is the median household income in Covina?
$98,671 (±$7,715) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Covina?
8.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Covina?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Covina work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (14%, 31 mi), West Covina (3%, 3 mi), Industry (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Covina walkable?
Covina is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Covina without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Covina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Covina
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.