Photo: Kotoviski photographed by Henryk Kotowski · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Imperial Beach works elsewhere
Only 5% work in Imperial Beach itself; outside it, San Diego draws the most (44%, 18 miles). 2,782 jobs are based in Imperial Beach; 11,611 of its residents have a job. 11% of workers work from home (California 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Imperial Beach
Much of Imperial Beach works one town over
48% of working residents work in a town that borders Imperial Beach: San Diego (44%) and Coronado (4%). Next door ↓
Imperial Beach is a place people come home to
There are 2,782 jobs based in Imperial Beach, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Imperial Beach has about 16,000 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Why Imperial Beach gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Imperial Beach is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #516 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Imperial Beach’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.1%, 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, Imperial Beach could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
Imperial Beach on a workday afternoon
On a workday 11,066 residents head out to work, 545 work right here, and 2,237 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Imperial Beach on a workday afternoon, 35% 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.
Commuting out of Imperial Beach: the destinations
Where Imperial Beach clocks in
44% of workers
9% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Imperial Beach, 2013 → 2023: 2,697 → 2,782. 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 Imperial Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes each way, about the CA average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Imperial Beach workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,642 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.
Half of Imperial Beach commutes less than 14 miles
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Imperial Beach
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Imperial Beach is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #70 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Imperial Beach 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 13,068 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, 62% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 6.8% of Imperial Beach households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Imperial Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Imperial Beach ranks: 1,051st of 1,516 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 34,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,049 | New Port Richey FL | 18,299 | $48K | 10.5% | 3.0% | 6% | B− |
| 1,050 | Pearl MS | 28,864 | $62K | 12.2% | 4.3% | 14% | B− |
| 1,051 | Imperial Beach CA | 25,206 | $86K | 14.8% | 7.1% | 5% | B− |
| 1,052 | Fort Walton Beach FL | 21,097 | $69K | 13.3% | 3.5% | 23% | B− |
| 1,053 | Vestal NY | 32,055 | $83K | 11.8% | 5.6% | 14% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Imperial Beach, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 48% of Imperial Beach
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Imperial Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial Beach | – | B− | A+ | 27 min | $86,111 |
| San Diego | 44% | B+ | A | 24 min | $108,077 |
| Coronado | 4% | A | A+ | 18 min | $134,534 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to San Diego. Darker towns draw more of Imperial Beach’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 Imperial Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Imperial Beach?
$86,111 (±$9,539) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Imperial Beach?
14.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Imperial Beach?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Imperial Beach work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (44%, 18 mi), Chula Vista (9%, 7 mi), Coronado (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Imperial Beach walkable?
Imperial Beach is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.2 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Imperial Beach without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 62% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Imperial Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Imperial Beach
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.