Valencia Hall · Photo: Mrwrite · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Day Valley are higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Day Valley grades B+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 4.1% of residents, where California as a whole has 12.0%. Only 1% work in Day Valley; the top destination outside it is Santa Cruz (13%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Day Valley
Inside Day Valley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Day Valley is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #231 of 847 in California. Household income holds Day Valley’s grade up ($155,000, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Day Valley could be anywhere from B to A.
A workday in Day Valley: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,272 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 258 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Day Valley on a workday afternoon, 28% 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 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Day Valley’s residents
Where Day Valley clocks in
13% of workers
12% 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.
Goods, not services: 39% of the jobs in Day Valley
273 jobs are based in Day Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Day Valley, 2013 → 2023: 115 → 273. 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 Day Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Day Valley, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Day Valley workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,308 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Day Valley
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Getting around Day Valley: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Day Valley is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #704 of 847 in California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,495 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 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% 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). 0.8% of Day Valley households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Day Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,355 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800, Day Valley comes 1,061st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,059 | Scott Township PA | 4,736 | $93K | 5.9% | 3.5% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,060 | Mount Olive AL | 3,567 | $82K | 12.1% | 1.2% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,061 | Day Valley CA | 3,579 | $155K | 4.1% | 5.6% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,062 | Park Hills KY | 3,188 | $100K | 7.5% | 5.2% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,063 | Green Township IN | 3,718 | $116K | 0.8% | 8.0% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Day Valley, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 20% of Day Valley
The biggest share goes to Watsonville (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Day Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day Valley | – | B+ | B− | 29 min | $155,000 |
| Aptos | 8% | B+ | A | 25 min | $134,048 |
| Corralitos | under 3% | A− | C− | 21 min | $171,113 |
| Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley | under 3% | A | C | 28 min | $158,788 |
| Watsonville | 12% | C | A | 26 min | $78,393 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Day Valley’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 Day Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Day Valley?
$155,000 (±$19,036) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Day Valley?
4.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Day Valley?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Day Valley work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Cruz (13%, 10 mi), Watsonville (12%, 8 mi), Aptos (8%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Day Valley walkable?
Day Valley is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Day Valley 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 Day Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Day Valley
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.