Photo: Coro · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of El Sobrante works elsewhere
For jobs and income El Sobrante is better than 69% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). 997 jobs are based in El Sobrante for 6,582 working residents. Measured by household income, El Sobrante is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
El Sobrante at work: what stands out
El Sobrante is a place people come home to
There are 997 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 11,000 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside El Sobrante
73% of El Sobrante 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 Sobrante pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
El Sobrante workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 38 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.
What’s behind El Sobrante’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds El Sobrante’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, El Sobrante could be anywhere from B to A.
El Sobrante quiets down on a workday
On a workday 6,480 residents head out to work, 102 work right here, and 895 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in El Sobrante on a workday afternoon, 34% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in El Sobrante: what the 997 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Sobrante, 2013 → 2023: 1,169 → 997. 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.
About 34 minutes to work from El Sobrante
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 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 6,541 commuters (the 16% 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.
17% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where El Sobrante clocks in
11% 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.
How far El Sobrante goes to work
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.
El Sobrante is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,758 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 40% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 2.1% of El Sobrante households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of El Sobrante’s commuters take a bus or train.
El Sobrante places 1,011th of 2,220 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,009 | Round Lake IL | 18,526 | $112K | 9.0% | 6.1% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,010 | Fairview Park OH | 16,748 | $79K | 9.4% | 4.1% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,011 | El Sobrante CA | 16,294 | $115K | 11.4% | 5.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,012 | Pinehurst NC | 18,670 | $110K | 4.3% | 5.2% | 24% | B+ |
| 1,013 | Cudahy WI | 17,655 | $67K | 11.4% | 2.4% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | 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.
Work next door: 12% of El Sobrante’s workers
The biggest share goes to Richmond (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | El Sobrante workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| El Sobrante | – | B+ | A | 34 min | $114,853 |
| Richmond | 8% | B− | A+ | 34 min | $95,391 |
| Pinole | 2% | A | A+ | 35 min | $127,717 |
| San Pablo | 2% | B− | A+ | 32 min | $79,478 |
| Rollingwood | under 2% | B− | B+ | 34 min | $99,830 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$114,853 (±$8,759) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Sobrante?
11.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Sobrante?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Sobrante work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (17%, 15 mi), Oakland (11%, 15 mi), Richmond (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Sobrante walkable?
El Sobrante is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Sobrante without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 40% 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.