About half of Lemon Grove’s working residents commute to San Diego
The average commute takes 29 minutes each way, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. Jobs and income earn Lemon Grove B+; getting around on foot earns it A. Only 4% work in Lemon Grove; the top destination outside it is San Diego (49%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Lemon Grove, in brief
The figures behind Lemon Grove’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lemon Grove is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #339 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Lemon Grove’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lemon Grove could be anywhere from B− to A−.
A workday in Lemon Grove: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 11,476 residents head out to work, 482 work right here, and 6,124 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Lemon Grove on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.55 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 towns that employ Lemon Grove’s residents
Where Lemon Grove clocks in
49% of workers
5% 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.
What the 6,606 jobs in Lemon Grove are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lemon Grove, 2013 → 2023: 5,327 → 6,606. 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 Lemon Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Lemon Grove: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lemon Grove workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,194 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.
How far it is to work from Lemon Grove
About 19% 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: Lemon Grove
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lemon Grove is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #298 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% 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 13,757 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 32% 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). 5.5% of Lemon Grove households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Lemon Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Lemon Grove is 712th of 1,409 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 38,000
| # | 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 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 710 | Franklin Township IN | 22,301 | $83K | 9.5% | 3.9% | 21% | B+ |
| 711 | Yukon OK | 27,615 | $75K | 8.8% | 4.0% | 10% | B+ |
| 712 | Lemon Grove CA | 27,936 | $88K | 9.2% | 5.6% | 4% | B+ |
| 713 | Perry Township OH | 28,259 | $69K | 10.1% | 2.8% | 8% | B+ |
| 714 | Hanover Park IL | 36,568 | $92K | 12.5% | 5.0% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,409 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Lemon Grove, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 54% of Lemon Grove
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lemon Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lemon Grove | – | B+ | A | 29 min | $88,009 |
| San Diego | 49% | B+ | A | 24 min | $108,077 |
| Spring Valley | under 1% | B | A− | 26 min | $109,110 |
| La Mesa | 4% | B | A | 24 min | $95,028 |
| La Presa | 1% | B | A− | 27 min | $93,479 |
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 Lemon 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 Lemon Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Lemon Grove?
$88,009 (±$6,740) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lemon Grove?
9.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lemon 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 Lemon Grove work?
4% work in town.
Is Lemon Grove walkable?
Lemon Grove is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lemon Grove without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 32% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lemon Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lemon 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.