Photo: Coolcaesar at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Los Altos ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Below the poverty line: 3.2% of residents, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Measured by household income, Los Altos is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Jobs and income earn Los Altos 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
The work figures that set Los Altos apart
Los Altos trades workers with the towns around it
Los Altos has about as many jobs (11,052) as working residents (12,658), but they are mostly different people: 12,033 residents leave for work each day while 10,427 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Los Altos are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Los Altos works from home
39% of Los Altos workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
85% of Los Altos’ 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 76% of the jobs based in Los Altos. The jobs ↓
A lot of Los Altos works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Los Altos: Mountain View (10%), Palo Alto (8%) and Sunnyvale (8%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Los Altos are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Los Altos’ grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Los Altos is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #37 of 847 in California. Household income holds Los Altos’ grade up ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The Census reports Los Altos’ median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Los Altos could be anywhere from A to A+.
Who works in Los Altos, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 12,033 residents head out to work, 625 work right here, and 10,427 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 (0.87 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.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Los Altos
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Los Altos workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,014 commuters (the 39% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Los Altos
11,052 jobs are based in Los Altos.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Los Altos, 2013 → 2023: 8,911 → 11,052. 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 Los Altos’s own residents hold wherever they work.
11% of working residents work in San Jose
Where Los Altos clocks in
11% of workers
10% 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.
The commute from Los Altos, by distance
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.
Los Altos is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Los Altos is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #95 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Los Altos 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 13,218 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 92% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 3.1% of Los Altos households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Los Altos’ commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Los Altos is 156th among 1,334 U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 154 | Canton MA | 25,165 | $143K | 5.2% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| 155 | Prairieville LA | 35,238 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 7% | A |
| 156 | Los Altos CA | 30,965 | $250K | 3.2% | 4.8% | 5% | A |
| 157 | Prairie Village KS | 23,008 | $114K | 5.7% | 3.0% | 6% | A |
| 158 | Royse City TX | 28,307 | $117K | 7.3% | 1.9% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | 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 Los Altos, the top three, the last and three more from California.
31% of Los Altos works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Mountain View (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Los Altos workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Altos | – | A | A+ | 22 min | $250,000+ |
| Palo Alto | 8% | A | A+ | 21 min | $231,101 |
| Los Altos Hills | under 3% | A | B+ | 29 min | $250,000+ |
| Loyola | under 3% | A | C | 28 min | $250,000+ |
| Mountain View | 10% | A | A+ | 23 min | $189,917 |
| Sunnyvale | 8% | A | A+ | 23 min | $186,170 |
| Cupertino | 5% | A | A | 24 min | $234,707 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Los Altos’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Los Altos: questions
What is the median household income in Los Altos?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Los Altos?
3.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Los Altos?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 39% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Los Altos work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Jose (11%, 16 mi), Mountain View (10%, 2 mi), Sunnyvale (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Los Altos walkable?
Los Altos is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Los Altos without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Los Altos, from the people who make the trip.
More of Los Altos
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.