Neutra, Richard and Dion, VDL Research Houses and Studio · Photo: Doncram · CC BY-SA 3.0Los Angeles has higher unemployment (8.2%) than 89% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Los Angeles; the top destination outside it is Burbank (6%, 13 miles). Jobs and income earn Los Angeles B−; getting around on foot earns it A+. The trip to work takes 31 minutes on average (California 29, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Los Angeles and work: the main findings
Most jobs in Los Angeles go to people who live here
Of the 1,722,874 jobs based in Los Angeles, 45% are held by Los Angeles residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Los Angeles’ working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the California average of 29. 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.
Where Los Angeles’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Los Angeles is better than 47% of U.S. towns, #526 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Los Angeles’ grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Los Angeles stays B−.
Los Angeles by day and by night
On a workday 743,344 residents head out to work, 773,841 work right here, and 949,033 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 (1.14 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 31 minutes in Los Angeles
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Los Angeles workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,526,463 commuters (the 20% 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.
The towns that employ Los Angeles’ residents
Where Los Angeles clocks in
2% of workers
2% 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.
67% of the jobs in Los Angeles pay over $3,333 a month
1,722,874 jobs are based in Los Angeles.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Los Angeles, 2013 → 2023: 1,492,572 → 1,722,874. 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 Angeles’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Los Angeles
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 Angeles is more walkable than 98% 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 1,896,780 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 65% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 17.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 11.9% of Los Angeles households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 8% of Los Angeles’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Work next door: 11% of Los Angeles’ workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Los Angeles workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | – | B− | A+ | 31 min | $81,939 |
| Santa Monica | 2% | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $114,885 |
| Glendale | 2% | B− | A | 27 min | $88,393 |
| Pasadena | 1% | B+ | A+ | 27 min | $105,192 |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | under 2% | A | A | 33 min | $179,623 |
| Burbank | 6% | B | A | 26 min | $97,082 |
| Inglewood | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 31 min | $72,750 |
| Carson | under 2% | B+ | A | 28 min | $108,703 |
| West Rancho Dominguez | under 2% | B− | A | 31 min | $86,834 |
| Vernon | under 2% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| East Los Angeles | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 30 min | $68,741 |
Same-state neighbors only. Vernon: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Burbank. Darker towns draw more of Los Angeles’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 Los Angeles: questions
What is the median household income in Los Angeles?
$81,939 (±$742) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Los Angeles?
16.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Los Angeles?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Los Angeles work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Burbank (6%, 13 mi), Santa Monica (2%, 5 mi), Glendale (2%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Los Angeles walkable?
Los Angeles is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.5 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Los Angeles without a car?
8% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 65% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Los Angeles, from the people who make the trip.
More of Los Angeles
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.