Princeton Hotel · Photo: Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in El Granada earn more than in almost any other U.S. town
Measured by household income, El Granada is among the highest-earning towns in the country. The poverty rate is 5.4%; California has 12.0%. Jobs and income earn El Granada B+; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from El Granada, in brief
A lot of El Granada works from home
28% of El Granada workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside El Granada
76% of El Granada residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 54% of the jobs based in El Granada pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 95% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
El Granada has added jobs fast
Jobs based in El Granada went from 589 in 2013 to 844 in 2023, +43%. 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.
Why El Granada gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, El Granada is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #234 of 847 in California. Household income holds El Granada’s grade up ($213,347, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.6%, 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, El Granada could be anywhere from B to A+.
The daily trip from El Granada: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Granada workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,842 commuters (the 27% 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.
Inside El Granada’s 844 jobs
844 jobs are based in El Granada.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Granada, 2013 → 2023: 589 → 844. 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 El Granada’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of El Granada, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,838 residents head out to work, 102 work right here, and 742 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in El Granada on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.44 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.
18% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where El Granada clocks in
8% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from El Granada
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: El Granada
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, El Granada is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #420 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,539 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). 1.3% of El Granada households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of El Granada’s commuters take a bus or train.
El Granada is 1,024th of 3,582 U.S. towns of 3,700 to 7,100 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,022 | Deep River CT | 4,468 | $90K | 8.2% | 3.1% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,023 | New Gloucester ME | 5,964 | $109K | 4.3% | 5.1% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,024 | El Granada CA | 5,232 | $213K | 5.4% | 6.6% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,025 | Braidwood IL | 6,259 | $82K | 7.3% | 2.5% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,026 | York Township IN | 4,400 | $79K | 6.3% | 2.8% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,582 | 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 El Granada, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to El Granada
The biggest share goes to Half Moon Bay (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | El Granada workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Granada | – | B+ | A− | 30 min | $213,347 |
| Moss Beach | under 3% | A | B+ | 32 min | $99,680 |
| Half Moon Bay | 8% | A | A | 29 min | $157,884 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of El Granada’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 El Granada: questions
What is the median household income in El Granada?
$213,347 (±$79,059) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Granada?
5.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Granada?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Granada work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (18%, 18 mi), Half Moon Bay (8%, 4 mi), San Mateo (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Granada walkable?
El Granada is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Granada without a car?
6% 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 El Granada, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Granada
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.