Photo: en:User:JD Lisa · Public domainHousehold incomes in Moraga are among the highest of any U.S. town
Measured by household income, Moraga is among the highest-earning towns in the country. 7.3% of residents are in poverty, against 12.0% across California. Jobs and income earn Moraga 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
Work in Moraga, in a few figures
A lot of Moraga works from home
40% of Moraga workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Moraga workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Moraga’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 ↓
Nearly all the work in Moraga is services
85% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 4% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Moraga’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Moraga is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #222 of 847 in California. Household income holds Moraga’s grade up ($216,193, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.4%, 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, Moraga could be anywhere from B to A.
About 31 minutes to work from Moraga
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Moraga workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,287 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
3,739 jobs are based in Moraga.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Moraga, 2013 → 2023: 3,614 → 3,739. 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 Moraga’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Moraga, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 5,940 residents head out to work, 397 work right here, and 3,342 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Moraga on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
19% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Moraga clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
Miles to work from Moraga
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.
Moraga 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, Moraga is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #177 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 16.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 8.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,122 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 55% 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 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% 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). 0.8% of Moraga households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Moraga’s commuters take a bus or train.
Moraga next to U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000: 849th of 2,220 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 847 | North Lebanon Township PA | 12,366 | $84K | 8.4% | 2.1% | 6% | A− |
| 848 | North Middleton Township PA | 13,031 | $85K | 6.6% | 3.2% | 4% | A− |
| 849 | Moraga CA | 16,322 | $216K | 7.3% | 6.4% | 6% | A− |
| 850 | Wrentham MA | 12,453 | $152K | 6.9% | 6.9% | 8% | A− |
| 851 | Goshen Township OH | 16,783 | $78K | 8.0% | 2.2% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | 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 Moraga, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work in the towns next to Moraga
The biggest share goes to Lafayette (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Moraga’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 Moraga: questions
What is the median household income in Moraga?
$216,193 (±$21,202) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Moraga?
7.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Moraga?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 40% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Moraga work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (19%, 17 mi), Oakland (10%, 8 mi), Berkeley (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Moraga walkable?
Moraga is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Moraga without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Moraga, from the people who make the trip.
More of Moraga
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.