Photo: mangtronix · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Discovery Bay top those of 95% of U.S. towns
Discovery Bay grades B for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Poverty touches 7.4% of residents, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Only 5% work in Discovery Bay itself; outside it, San Francisco draws the most (7%, 46 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Discovery Bay stands out on work
Discovery Bay workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 44 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 337 hours of commuting, 115 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Discovery Bay is a place people come home to
There are 1,151 jobs based in Discovery Bay, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Discovery Bay has about 9,800 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Discovery Bay
73% of Discovery Bay residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 54% of the jobs based in Discovery Bay pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Discovery Bay has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Discovery Bay went from 844 in 2013 to 1,151 in 2023, +36%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Discovery Bay’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Discovery Bay is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #411 of 847 in California. Household income holds Discovery Bay’s grade up ($147,117, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (8.6%, 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, Discovery Bay could be anywhere from B− to A−.
The trip to work from Discovery Bay: about 44 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Discovery Bay workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,259 commuters (the 22% 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 daily commute in and out of Discovery Bay
On a workday 5,964 residents head out to work, 303 work right here, and 848 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,800 people are in Discovery Bay on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
0.18 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.
What work there is in Discovery Bay: 1,151 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Discovery Bay, 2013 → 2023: 844 → 1,151. 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 Discovery Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Discovery Bay work
Where Discovery Bay clocks in
Lines 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Discovery Bay
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 Discovery Bay: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Discovery Bay is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #750 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 6,769 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.3% of Discovery Bay households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Discovery Bay’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Discovery Bay ranks: 1,276th of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,274 | Fairview Heights IL | 16,175 | $81K | 8.8% | 6.4% | 9% | B |
| 1,275 | Penn Township PA | 18,523 | $85K | 8.6% | 4.9% | 13% | B |
| 1,276 | Discovery Bay CA | 14,911 | $147K | 7.4% | 8.6% | 5% | B |
| 1,277 | Forest VA | 13,430 | $82K | 9.6% | 3.5% | 9% | B |
| 1,278 | Seminole FL | 18,997 | $76K | 9.4% | 5.3% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Discovery Bay, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Discovery Bay: questions
What is the median household income in Discovery Bay?
$147,117 (±$19,754) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Discovery Bay?
7.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Discovery Bay?
44 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Discovery Bay work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (7%, 46 mi), Brentwood (7%, 7 mi), Livermore (7%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Discovery Bay walkable?
Discovery Bay is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Discovery Bay without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Discovery Bay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Discovery Bay
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.