Photo: Destiny Diaz · CC BY-SA 4.0At 8.4%, unemployment in Morongo Valley is higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Morongo Valley is behind 85% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Morongo Valley are D for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 4% stay in Morongo Valley for work; outside it, Palm Springs is the main destination (8%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Morongo Valley
A big share show a job far from home
53% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Morongo Valley is a place people come home to
There are 306 jobs based in Morongo Valley, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Morongo Valley has about 2,700 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Morongo Valley workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Morongo Valley makes and builds things
37% of the jobs based in Morongo Valley are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Morongo Valley residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 16%. 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.
The four measures behind Morongo Valley’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Morongo Valley is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #815 of 847 in California. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Morongo Valley’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morongo Valley could be anywhere from D− to C.
How far Morongo Valley’s workers travel
About 53% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Morongo Valley
On a workday 1,739 residents head out to work, 76 work right here, and 230 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Morongo Valley on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.17 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.
How long Morongo Valley spends getting to work: about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morongo Valley workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,423 commuters (the 17% 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.
Morongo Valley works in goods: 37% of its jobs
306 jobs are based in Morongo Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morongo Valley, 2013 → 2023: 241 → 306. 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 Morongo Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Morongo Valley to work: where people go
Where Morongo Valley clocks in
8% 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.
The commute in Morongo Valley is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Morongo Valley is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns, #807 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Morongo 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 1,715 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 41% 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). 5.0% of Morongo Valley households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Morongo Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Morongo Valley next to U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,004 | Stilwell OK | 3,892 | $37K | 34.2% | 5.7% | 31% | D |
| 4,005 | Abbeville SC | 4,902 | $41K | 27.3% | 7.5% | 16% | D |
| 4,006 | Morongo Valley CA | 4,209 | $52K | 24.9% | 8.4% | 4% | D |
| 4,007 | Nashville AR | 3,945 | $41K | 27.3% | 6.9% | 34% | D |
| 4,008 | Union City IN | 3,450 | $39K | 31.2% | 7.1% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,195 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Morongo Valley, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Morongo Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Morongo Valley?
$51,949 (±$12,745) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morongo Valley?
24.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morongo Valley?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morongo Valley work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Palm Springs (8%, 19 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 106 mi), Palm Desert (4%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morongo Valley walkable?
Morongo Valley is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morongo Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morongo Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morongo 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.