Photo: prayitno · CC BY 2.0La Quinta has higher unemployment (7.3%) than 84% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are higher than in 76% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn La Quinta B−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in seven work in La Quinta itself; outside it, Palm Desert draws the most (13%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where La Quinta stands out on work
Jobs & income in La Quinta: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, La Quinta is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #484 of 847 in California. Household income holds La Quinta’s grade up ($99,250, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. 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, La Quinta could be anywhere from C+ to B.
How many miles La Quinta commutes
About 38% 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.
The daily commute in and out of La Quinta
On a workday 12,140 residents head out to work, 1,832 work right here, and 9,597 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).
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 La Quinta goes to work
Where La Quinta clocks in
13% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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 La Quinta
11,429 jobs are based in La Quinta.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Quinta, 2013 → 2023: 10,052 → 11,429. 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 La Quinta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from La Quinta: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Quinta workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,775 commuters (the 18% 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.
Getting around La Quinta: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, La Quinta is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #526 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 15,529 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 55% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 14% 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). 4.1% of La Quinta households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of La Quinta’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,064 U.S. towns of 28,000 to 53,000, La Quinta comes 729th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 727 | Fredericksburg VA | 30,393 | $86K | 13.2% | 5.1% | 21% | B− |
| 728 | Clay Township IN | 34,221 | $72K | 9.8% | 5.4% | 19% | B− |
| 729 | La Quinta CA | 39,440 | $99K | 8.8% | 7.3% | 13% | B− |
| 730 | Egg Harbor Township NJ | 48,435 | $97K | 9.4% | 8.2% | 15% | B− |
| 731 | Athens AL | 34,209 | $70K | 12.2% | 3.1% | 26% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,064 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 La Quinta, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Bordering towns draw 12% of La Quinta’s workers
The biggest share goes to Indio (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | La Quinta workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Quinta | – | B− | B+ | 26 min | $99,250 |
| Indio | 9% | B− | B+ | 23 min | $77,167 |
| Indian Wells | 3% | A− | A | 19 min | $162,990 |
| Bermuda Dunes | under 3% | B | B+ | 21 min | $90,818 |
| Vista Santa Rosa | under 3% | B | B+ | 27 min | $70,474 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of La Quinta’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 La Quinta: questions
What is the median household income in La Quinta?
$99,250 (±$5,992) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Quinta?
8.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Quinta?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Quinta work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Palm Desert (13%, 9 mi), Indio (9%, 7 mi), Palm Springs (6%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is La Quinta walkable?
La Quinta is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Quinta without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 14% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Quinta, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Quinta
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.