Households in El Sobrante earn more than those in 97% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income El Sobrante is better than 87% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (C+). Poverty touches 2.9% of residents; California has 12.0%. Only 2% work in El Sobrante itself; outside it, Riverside draws the most (18%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
El Sobrante at work: what stands out
Jobs in El Sobrante have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in El Sobrante went from 382 in 2013 to 954 in 2023, +150%. The jobs ↓
El Sobrante is a place people come home to
There are 954 jobs based in El Sobrante, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday El Sobrante has about 7,700 people in it, 41% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
El Sobrante and Riverside trade workers both ways
Riverside is the top workplace for El Sobrante residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in El Sobrante come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
El Sobrante workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for El Sobrante
Household income holds El Sobrante’s grade up ($165,682, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.8%, 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 Sobrante could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Goods jobs make up 31% of work in El Sobrante
954 jobs are based in El Sobrante.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Sobrante, 2013 → 2023: 382 → 954. 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 Sobrante’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes El Sobrante
On a workday 6,211 residents head out to work, 139 work right here, and 815 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,700 people are in El Sobrante on a workday afternoon, 41% fewer than live here.
0.15 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.
Where the trip to work from El Sobrante ends
Where El Sobrante clocks in
18% of workers
7% 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.
Getting to work from El Sobrante takes about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Sobrante workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,384 commuters (the 19% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from El Sobrante
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.
In El Sobrante, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 6,633 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 4% 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 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 1.4% of El Sobrante households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of El Sobrante’s commuters take a bus or train.
El Sobrante places 534th of 2,526 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 532 | Jefferson GA | 17,185 | $110K | 5.6% | 2.6% | 15% | A |
| 533 | Winfield IN | 9,140 | $136K | 5.9% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| 534 | El Sobrante CA | 13,129 | $166K | 2.9% | 5.8% | 2% | A |
| 535 | Williamsburg FL | 9,063 | $89K | 6.1% | 2.8% | 2% | A |
| 536 | Joppatowne MD | 14,237 | $118K | 6.5% | 3.3% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 El Sobrante, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 25% of El Sobrante
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | El Sobrante workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Sobrante | – | A | C+ | 37 min | $165,682 |
| Riverside | 18% | B | A | 31 min | $91,045 |
| Home Gardens | under 3% | A− | A− | 37 min | $96,342 |
| Corona | 7% | B+ | B+ | 34 min | $109,242 |
| Woodcrest | under 3% | A− | B− | 40 min | $153,731 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Riverside. Darker towns draw more of El Sobrante’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 Sobrante: questions
What is the median household income in El Sobrante?
$165,682 (±$22,490) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Sobrante?
2.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Sobrante?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Sobrante work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Riverside (18%, 6 mi), Corona (7%, 6 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 55 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Sobrante walkable?
El Sobrante is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Sobrante 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 El Sobrante, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Sobrante
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.