Photo: Scotwriter21 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Oceanside have higher incomes than those in 75% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Oceanside; the top destination outside it is Carlsbad (15%, 7 miles). Below the poverty line: 8.3% of residents, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Jobs and income earn Oceanside B+; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Oceanside
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oceanside is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #315 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Oceanside’s grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oceanside could be anywhere from B to A−.
Who leaves Oceanside for work, and who comes in
On a workday 57,051 residents head out to work, 12,357 work right here, and 29,971 people come in from elsewhere.
About 143,000 people are in Oceanside on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Where Oceanside goes to work
Where Oceanside clocks in
15% of workers
14% of workers
6% 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.
Inside Oceanside’s 42,328 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oceanside, 2013 → 2023: 35,174 → 42,328. 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 Oceanside’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Oceanside: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oceanside workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 72,787 commuters (the 16% 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.
How far it is to work from Oceanside
About 19% 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.
Oceanside is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.3% 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 86,697 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 78% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 4.5% of Oceanside households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Oceanside’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Oceanside is 61st among 184 U.S. towns of 119,000 to 230,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| 9 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Rochester MN | 124,292 | $89K | 8.5% | 3.7% | 76% | B+ |
| 60 | Clovis CA | 129,347 | $99K | 8.0% | 5.6% | 17% | B+ |
| 61 | Oceanside CA | 170,483 | $98K | 8.3% | 5.3% | 18% | B+ |
| 62 | Proviso Township IL | 147,144 | $82K | 10.1% | 5.1% | 13% | B+ |
| 63 | Surprise AZ | 175,304 | $97K | 8.6% | 4.3% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 184 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Oceanside, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Oceanside and its neighbors: 21% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oceanside workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oceanside | – | B+ | A | 29 min | $97,737 |
| Carlsbad | 15% | A− | A− | 27 min | $142,748 |
| Vista | 6% | B | A− | 27 min | $94,975 |
| Camp Pendleton South | under 2% | C | B+ | 20 min | $69,853 |
| Bonsall | under 2% | B | C | 31 min | $113,537 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Carlsbad. Darker towns draw more of Oceanside’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 Oceanside: questions
What is the median household income in Oceanside?
$97,737 (±$4,411) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oceanside?
8.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oceanside?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oceanside work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Carlsbad (15%, 7 mi), San Diego (14%, 29 mi), Vista (6%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oceanside walkable?
Oceanside is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oceanside without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oceanside, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oceanside
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.