Photo: SarahStierch · CC BY 4.0Households in Elk Grove have higher incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 8.0% of residents (California 12.0%). Elk Grove grades B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in seven work in Elk Grove itself; outside it, Sacramento draws the most (30%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Elk Grove apart
Elk Grove and Sacramento trade workers both ways
Sacramento is the top workplace for Elk Grove residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Elk Grove come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Elk Grove has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Elk Grove went from 24,889 in 2013 to 40,148 in 2023, +61%. 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 Elk Grove gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elk Grove is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #263 of 847 in California. Household income holds Elk Grove’s grade up ($125,924, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.4%, 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, Elk Grove could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Out of Elk Grove to work: where people go
Where Elk Grove clocks in
30% 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.
The kinds of work in Elk Grove
40,148 jobs are based in Elk Grove.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elk Grove, 2013 → 2023: 24,889 → 40,148. 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 Elk Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Elk Grove
On a workday 64,727 residents head out to work, 10,602 work right here, and 29,546 people come in from elsewhere.
About 150,000 people are in Elk Grove on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.53 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.
Getting to work from Elk Grove takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elk Grove workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 64,859 commuters (the 21% 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.
How many miles Elk Grove commutes
About 21% 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.
In Elk Grove, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elk Grove is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #503 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 82,310 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 51% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 3.6% of Elk Grove households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Elk Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Elk Grove is 42nd among 155 U.S. towns of 130,000 to 250,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| 10 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Santa Clara CA | 133,446 | $179K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Rancho Cucamonga CA | 177,856 | $112K | 8.0% | 5.9% | 15% | B+ |
| 41 | West Valley City UT | 137,491 | $92K | 9.9% | 4.3% | 14% | B+ |
| 42 | Elk Grove CA | 185,007 | $126K | 8.0% | 6.4% | 14% | B+ |
| 43 | Lakewood CO | 156,927 | $90K | 9.2% | 4.5% | 18% | B+ |
| 44 | Sioux Falls SD | 213,748 | $76K | 9.6% | 2.5% | 81% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Elk Grove, the top three, the last and three more from California.
32% of Elk Grove works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elk Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elk Grove | – | B+ | B+ | 31 min | $125,924 |
| Sacramento | 30% | B− | A | 25 min | $87,321 |
| Florin | 2% | C+ | A− | 27 min | $71,111 |
| Vineyard | under 2% | B+ | B | 29 min | $105,313 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Sacramento. Darker towns draw more of Elk Grove’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 Elk Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Elk Grove?
$125,924 (±$3,447) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elk Grove?
8.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elk Grove?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elk Grove work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sacramento (30%, 12 mi), Rancho Cordova (4%, 14 mi), San Francisco (2%, 72 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elk Grove walkable?
Elk Grove is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elk Grove without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elk Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elk Grove
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.