More people are out of work in Garden Grove (6.0%) than in 74% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Garden Grove itself; outside it, Santa Ana draws the most (9%, 5 miles). Garden Grove grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Income, poverty and work: Garden Grove’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garden Grove is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #410 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Garden Grove’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garden Grove could be anywhere from B− to B+.
A workday in Garden Grove: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 68,223 residents head out to work, 7,590 work right here, and 41,075 people come in from elsewhere.
About 143,000 people are in Garden Grove on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.64 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 Garden Grove’s working residents head each day
Where Garden Grove clocks in
9% of workers
8% 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.
Inside Garden Grove’s 48,665 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garden Grove, 2013 → 2023: 43,228 → 48,665. 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 Garden Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Garden Grove: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garden Grove workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 72,570 commuters (the 11% 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.
Where in the region Garden Grove works
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: Garden Grove
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garden Grove is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #356 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% 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 81,779 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 15% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 7.0% of Garden Grove households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Garden Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Garden Grove is 83rd of 184 U.S. towns of 119,000 to 230,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| 9 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | College Station TX | 127,472 | $51K | 29.2% | 5.1% | 35% | B |
| 82 | Billings MT | 121,239 | $74K | 9.8% | 3.5% | 74% | B |
| 83 | Garden Grove CA | 170,455 | $92K | 12.3% | 6.0% | 10% | B |
| 84 | Salt Lake City UT | 218,428 | $75K | 13.6% | 4.2% | 49% | B |
| 85 | Kent WA | 134,871 | $92K | 10.8% | 7.0% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | 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 Garden Grove, the top three, the last and three more from California.
24% of Garden Grove works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garden Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Grove | – | B | A− | 29 min | $92,174 |
| Stanton | under 3% | B− | A | 29 min | $84,707 |
| Santa Ana | 9% | B+ | A | 25 min | $93,999 |
| Westminster | 3% | B− | A | 27 min | $85,541 |
| Anaheim | 8% | B | A | 27 min | $95,227 |
| Orange | 4% | A− | A | 26 min | $117,113 |
| Seal Beach | under 3% | B+ | A | 29 min | $85,964 |
| Fountain Valley | under 3% | B+ | B+ | 26 min | $115,237 |
| Los Alamitos | under 3% | B | A | 31 min | $97,155 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Santa Ana. Darker towns draw more of Garden 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 Garden Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Garden Grove?
$92,174 (±$2,652) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garden Grove?
12.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garden Grove?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garden Grove work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Ana (9%, 5 mi), Irvine (8%, 13 mi), Anaheim (8%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garden Grove walkable?
Garden Grove is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 14.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garden Grove without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 15% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garden Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garden 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.