Fallbrook has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income B: better than 55% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #454 of 847 in California.
Walkability A: more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns · #285 of 847 in California.
Household incomes here are higher than in 74% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 33 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Fallbrook; the top destination outside it is San Diego (13%, 38 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 0.2 in San Diego (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Fallbrook
What’s behind Fallbrook’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fallbrook is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #454 of 847 in California. Household income holds Fallbrook’s grade up ($96,394, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fallbrook could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Half of Fallbrook commutes less than 18 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 17% 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.
Fallbrook quiets down on a workday
On a workday 10,253 residents head out to work, 2,137 work right here, and 4,516 people come in from elsewhere.
About 26,000 people are in Fallbrook on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.54 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.
13% of working residents work in San Diego
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Fallbrook clocks in
13% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 6,653 jobs in Fallbrook are
6,653 jobs are based in Fallbrook. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fallbrook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fallbrook, 2013 → 2023: 6,696 → 6,653. 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.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of California
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fallbrook workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,514 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Fallbrook is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fallbrook is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #285 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Fallbrook near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 14,333 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 47% 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 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 4.3% of Fallbrook households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Fallbrook’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fallbrook is 859th of 1,368 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 43,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Fallbrook, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 92 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 857 | Green Valley AZ | 22,114 | $62K | 7.7% | 2.4% | 12% | B |
| 858 | Rosemont CA | 23,766 | $90K | 16.6% | 5.6% | 3% | B |
| 859 | Fallbrook CA | 32,112 | $96K | 11.9% | 5.2% | 17% | B |
| 860 | West Chicago IL | 25,296 | $100K | 13.0% | 9.5% | 11% | B |
| 861 | Montgomery NY | 23,425 | $93K | 11.1% | 5.4% | 18% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,368 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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.
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 Fallbrook: questions
What is the median household income in Fallbrook?
$96,394 (±$4,814) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fallbrook?
11.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fallbrook?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fallbrook work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (13%, 38 mi), Oceanside (6%, 12 mi), Carlsbad (5%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fallbrook walkable?
Fallbrook is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fallbrook without a car?
2% 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 Fallbrook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fallbrook
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.