Photo: Pi.1415926535 · CC BY-SA 3.0Davis has higher family incomes than 94% of U.S. towns
Davis grades A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Not counting college students, poverty touches 8.8% of residents, where California as a whole has 11.6%. About one in seven work in Davis; the top destination outside it is Sacramento (19%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Davis in brief
Fewer jobs are based in Davis than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Davis fell from 26,469 in 2013 to 15,293 in 2023, −42%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Davis and Sacramento trade workers both ways
Sacramento is the top workplace for Davis residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Davis come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Davis are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 54 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.
Income, poverty and work: Davis’ grade explained
On family income, poverty and job access, Davis is better than 89% of U.S. towns, #79 of 847 in California. Family income is its strongest input ($169,957, U.S. $99,999); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
34% of Davis’ residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (33% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 8.8%, against 26.5% for all residents. Unemployment (6.3%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($169,957), since student households pull the household median down ($90,045).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Davis could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Most jobs in Davis are in services
15,293 jobs are based in Davis.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Davis, 2013 → 2023: 26,469 → 15,293. 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 Davis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Davis’ working residents head each day
Where Davis clocks in
19% 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.
Time on the road from Davis: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Davis workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 25,099 commuters (the 23% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Davis
On a workday 19,965 residents head out to work, 3,824 work right here, and 11,469 people come in from elsewhere.
About 58,000 people are in Davis on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.64 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.
Davis’ commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
Davis is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Davis is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #12 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Davis 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 32,637 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 65% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 8.2% of Davis households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Davis’ commuters take a bus or train.
102nd of 669: where Davis ranks among U.S. towns of 46,000 to 89,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Schaumburg IL | 77,249 | $98K | 5.7% | 3.5% | 13% | A |
| 101 | Somerville MA | 84,211 | $133K | 9.8% | 3.0% | 8% | A |
| 102 | Davis CA | 66,110 | $90K | 26.5% | 6.3% | 16% | A |
| 103 | White River Township IN | 56,493 | $105K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 10% | A |
| 104 | Cerritos CA | 46,367 | $135K | 5.3% | 5.1% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 669 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 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 Davis, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 13% of Davis
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Davis workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davis | – | A | A+ | 22 min | $90,045 |
| University of California-Davis | 13% | C− | A+ | 18 min | $18,631 |
| El Macero | under 2% | — | — | 33 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. El Macero: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to University of California-Davis. Darker towns draw more of Davis’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.
- Students. 34% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Davis: questions
What is the median household income in Davis?
$90,045 (±$7,121) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Davis?
26.5% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 8.8%. California: 12.0%.
How long is the commute from Davis?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Davis work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sacramento (19%, 15 mi), University of California-Davis (13%, 2 mi), Woodland (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Davis walkable?
Davis is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 28% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Davis without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 65% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Davis, from the people who make the trip.
More of Davis
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.