Photo: Oleg Alexandrov · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Napa earn more than those in 81% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 8.5% of residents, where California as a whole has 12.0%. Jobs and income earn Napa B; getting around on foot earns it A−. About one in four work in Napa itself; outside it, San Francisco draws the most (4%, 37 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Napa: the gist
No single place dominates Napa’s commute
The biggest draw, San Francisco, gets only 4% of working residents, and 50% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Napa residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Napa are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. 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.
How Napa earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Napa is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #365 of 847 in California. Household income holds Napa’s grade up ($105,963, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, 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, Napa could be anywhere from B to B+.
Where Napa goes to work
Where Napa clocks in
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.
From Napa, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Napa workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 33,406 commuters (the 14% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Napa
On a workday 25,389 residents head out to work, 10,647 work right here, and 19,406 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 (0.83 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.
Inside Napa’s 30,053 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Napa, 2013 → 2023: 26,965 → 30,053. 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 Napa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Napa’s workers travel
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.
In Napa, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Napa is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #386 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Napa 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 38,826 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 2% 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 40% 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). 5.4% of Napa households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Napa’s commuters take a bus or train.
295th of 568: where Napa ranks among U.S. towns of 54,000 to 103,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 293 | Bensalem Township PA | 62,783 | $85K | 11.9% | 4.8% | 15% | B+ |
| 294 | Wabash Township IN | 66,098 | $41K | 33.4% | 3.8% | 35% | B+ |
| 295 | Napa CA | 76,562 | $106K | 8.5% | 5.7% | 30% | B |
| 296 | Evanston IL | 76,380 | $96K | 11.8% | 6.2% | 18% | B |
| 297 | La Habra CA | 60,908 | $100K | 10.9% | 7.1% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 568 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Napa, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Napa and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to American Canyon (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Napa workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Napa | – | B | A− | 24 min | $105,963 |
| American Canyon | 1% | B+ | A− | 30 min | $121,700 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Napa’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 Napa: questions
What is the median household income in Napa?
$105,963 (±$5,483) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Napa?
8.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Napa?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Napa work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (4%, 37 mi), St. Helena (4%, 17 mi), Santa Rosa (3%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Napa walkable?
Napa is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Napa without a car?
1% 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 Napa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Napa
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.