Photo: Raleigh Littles · CC BY-SA 4.0At 8.0%, unemployment in Morro Bay is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Morro Bay are C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 6.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. About one in five stay in Morro Bay for work; outside it, San Luis Obispo is the main destination (20%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Morro Bay
Why Morro Bay gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Morro Bay is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #557 of 847 in California. Household income holds Morro Bay’s grade up ($95,843, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morro Bay could be anywhere from C to A−.
How long Morro Bay spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morro Bay workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,589 commuters (the 22% 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 commute in and out of Morro Bay
On a workday 3,347 residents head out to work, 780 work right here, and 2,288 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,600 people are in Morro Bay on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
Out of Morro Bay to work: where people go
Where Morro Bay clocks in
20% 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.
Jobs in Morro Bay: what the 3,068 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morro Bay, 2013 → 2023: 2,905 → 3,068. 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 Morro Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Morro Bay
About 28% 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.
Morro Bay is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Morro Bay is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #322 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,584 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 68% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 2.9% of Morro Bay households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Morro Bay’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Morro Bay ranks: 1,886th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,884 | German Township OH | 7,579 | $74K | 8.0% | 8.7% | 5% | C+ |
| 1,885 | Prairie Grove AR | 8,998 | $71K | 15.2% | 3.0% | 8% | C+ |
| 1,886 | Morro Bay CA | 10,613 | $96K | 8.4% | 8.0% | 19% | C+ |
| 1,887 | Vermillion SD | 11,720 | $50K | 24.4% | 8.5% | 48% | C+ |
| 1,888 | Cody WY | 10,377 | $73K | 9.5% | 3.4% | 66% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Morro Bay, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work in the towns next to Morro Bay
The biggest share goes to Cayucos (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Morro Bay’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 Morro Bay: questions
What is the median household income in Morro Bay?
$95,843 (±$5,900) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morro Bay?
8.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morro Bay?
20 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morro Bay work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Luis Obispo (20%, 13 mi), Atascadero (4%, 12 mi), Los Angeles (3%, 168 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morro Bay walkable?
Morro Bay is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morro Bay without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 68% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Morro Bay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morro Bay
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.