La Selva Beach’s household incomes are higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn La Selva Beach A−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Poverty touches 9.2% of residents; California has 12.0%. Only 1% work in La Selva Beach; the top destination outside it is San Jose (10%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
La Selva Beach and work: the main findings
La Selva Beach’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside La Selva Beach is San Jose, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (84) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
La Selva Beach makes and builds things
41% of the jobs based in La Selva Beach are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs La Selva Beach residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in La Selva Beach than ten years ago
Jobs counted in La Selva Beach fell from 451 in 2013 to 323 in 2023, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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; with 873 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in La Selva Beach
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, La Selva Beach is better than 81% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($160,833, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, La Selva Beach could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Near or far: the trip to work from La Selva Beach
About 22% 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.
Making and building: 41% of jobs based in La Selva Beach
323 jobs are based in La Selva Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Selva Beach, 2013 → 2023: 451 → 323. 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 Selva Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of La Selva Beach
On a workday 862 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 312 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in La Selva Beach on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.37 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.
The places La Selva Beach commutes to
Where La Selva Beach clocks in
10% of workers
9% 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.
Getting to work from La Selva Beach takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Selva Beach workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,024 commuters (the 19% 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.
In La Selva Beach, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, La Selva Beach is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,257 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 0.0% of La Selva Beach households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of La Selva Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
How La Selva Beach ranks: 721st of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Rolling Hills CA | 1,641 | $250K | 5.5% | 5.6% | 2% | A+ |
| 80 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 719 | Harlem Township IL | 1,949 | $95K | 6.1% | 0.4% | 2% | A− |
| 720 | Washington Township OH | 2,264 | $86K | 6.2% | 1.5% | 1% | A− |
| 721 | La Selva Beach CA | 2,302 | $161K | 9.2% | 2.5% | 1% | A− |
| 722 | Apple Mountain Lake VA | 1,671 | $132K | 3.2% | 4.3% | 1% | A− |
| 723 | Lewiston NY | 2,492 | $74K | 5.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Selva Beach, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to La Selva Beach
The biggest share goes to Rio del Mar (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | La Selva Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Selva Beach | – | A− | B+ | 26 min | $160,833 |
| Rio del Mar | 3% | A− | B+ | 30 min | $159,929 |
| Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley | under 2% | A | C | 28 min | $158,788 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of La Selva 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 La Selva Beach: questions
What is the median household income in La Selva Beach?
$160,833 (±$41,150) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Selva Beach?
9.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Selva Beach?
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 Selva Beach work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Jose (10%, 26 mi), Santa Cruz (9%, 11 mi), Watsonville (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is La Selva Beach walkable?
La Selva Beach is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Selva Beach without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Selva Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Selva 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.