Ladera has some of the highest household incomes of any U.S. town
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Below the poverty line: 1.5% of residents, where California as a whole has 12.0%. Jobs and income earn Ladera A+; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Ladera, in brief
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
84% of Ladera’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 74% of the jobs based in Ladera. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Ladera
37% of Ladera workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Ladera’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ladera is San Francisco, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (51) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 546 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Ladera’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Ladera is among the top U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Ladera’s grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (10.7%) is left out: Ladera’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ladera stays A+.
74% of the jobs in Ladera pay over $3,333 a month
381 jobs are based in Ladera.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ladera, 2013 → 2023: 312 → 381. 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 Ladera’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Ladera: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ladera workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 395 commuters (the 37% 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.
Ladera’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Who works in Ladera, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 539 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 374 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Ladera on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
9% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Ladera clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
Ladera 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, Ladera is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Ladera 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 629 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 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). 0.0% of Ladera households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Ladera’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ladera next to U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800: 18th of 5,400 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Castle Hill CA | 1,026 | $250K | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Plandome Heights NY | 1,019 | $250K | 3.8% | 6.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 17 | Rose Valley PA | 1,017 | $247K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 18 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 19 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 20 | Colmar Manor MD | 1,590 | $123K | 2.3% | 4.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 21 | Baywood Park CA | 1,580 | $217K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Norris Canyon CA | 1,014 | $250K | 1.8% | 0.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Ladera, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work in the towns next to Ladera
The biggest share goes to Portola Valley (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ladera workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladera | – | A+ | A− | 21 min | $235,750 |
| Portola Valley | 4% | A | B+ | 19 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ladera’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 Ladera: questions
What is the median household income in Ladera?
$235,750 (±$130,104) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ladera?
1.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ladera?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ladera work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (9%, 29 mi), Palo Alto (8%, 3 mi), Stanford (7%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ladera walkable?
Ladera is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ladera without a car?
5% 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 Ladera, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ladera
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.