Photo: SWENOWENSON · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes put Mill Valley near the very top of U.S. towns
Mill Valley grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. 5.9% of residents live below the poverty line (California 12.0%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Mill Valley apart on work
A lot of Mill Valley works from home
40% of Mill Valley workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Mill Valley trades workers with the towns around it
Mill Valley has about as many jobs (4,867) as working residents (4,905), but they are mostly different people: 4,450 residents leave for work each day while 4,412 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Mill Valley are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Mill Valley and San Francisco trade workers both ways
San Francisco is the top workplace for Mill Valley residents (35%) and also where the most people who work in Mill Valley come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Three in four Mill Valley workers earn over $40,000 a year
78% of Mill Valley’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. 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.
Inside Mill Valley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mill Valley is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #249 of 847 in California. Household income holds Mill Valley’s grade up ($206,212, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (8.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mill Valley could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Mill Valley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mill Valley workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,896 commuters (the 40% 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 daily flow of workers through Mill Valley
On a workday 4,450 residents head out to work, 455 work right here, and 4,412 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 (0.99 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.
35% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Mill Valley clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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.
68% of the jobs in Mill Valley pay over $3,333 a month
4,867 jobs are based in Mill Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mill Valley, 2013 → 2023: 4,951 → 4,867. 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 Mill Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Mill Valley commutes
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.
Mill Valley 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, Mill Valley is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #53 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Mill Valley 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 6,498 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 89% 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). 3.5% of Mill Valley households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Mill Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Mill Valley is 882nd among 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 880 | Monitor Township MI | 10,597 | $77K | 5.9% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| 881 | Beekman NY | 14,358 | $126K | 5.9% | 4.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 882 | Mill Valley CA | 13,799 | $206K | 5.9% | 8.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 883 | Geneseo NY | 10,437 | $66K | 24.8% | 7.6% | 14% | B+ |
| 884 | Kechi Township KS | 10,931 | $78K | 10.5% | 2.3% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Mill Valley, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Mill Valley
The biggest share goes to Larkspur (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mill Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mill Valley | – | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $206,212 |
| Tamalpais-Homestead Valley | 1% | A | A | 29 min | $243,227 |
| Corte Madera | under 2% | A | A+ | 31 min | $232,763 |
| Alto | under 2% | B+ | B− | 14 min | $129,191 |
| Strawberry | under 2% | A | A | 30 min | $157,661 |
| Larkspur | 2% | A− | A+ | 28 min | $140,417 |
| Kentfield | under 2% | A | A+ | 25 min | $249,896 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mill Valley’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 Mill Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Mill Valley?
$206,212 (±$10,740) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mill Valley?
5.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mill Valley?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 40% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mill Valley work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (35%, 11 mi), San Rafael (5%, 5 mi), Oakland (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mill Valley walkable?
Mill Valley is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.1 out of 20, and 13% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mill Valley without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mill Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mill Valley
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.