Photo: Jon Zich, [email protected] · CC BY-SA 3.0Orange draws 98,407 commuters a day, with 1.8 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Orange A−; getting around on foot earns it A. Employers in Orange report 105,875 jobs, and 59,679 of its residents work somewhere. Household incomes here are higher than in 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Orange
Orange is where the jobs are
Orange has 105,875 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Orange draws workers from far and wide
The 105,875 jobs in Orange are filled from a wide area. Orange’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 34%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Orange
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orange is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #185 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Orange’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, 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, Orange could be anywhere from B+ to A.
How many people are in Orange by day
On a workday 52,211 residents head out to work and 7,468 work right here.
About 185,000 people are in Orange on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The daily trip into Orange
Where Orange clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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.
65% of the jobs in Orange pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orange, 2013 → 2023: 92,436 → 105,875. 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 Orange’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Orange spends getting to work: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orange workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 58,125 commuters (the 18% 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 commute from Orange, by distance
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Orange
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orange is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #199 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.1% 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 70,589 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 84% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 35% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 3.8% of Orange households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Orange’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Orange is 53rd of 261 U.S. towns of 97,000 to 187,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | San Mateo CA | 103,337 | $154K | 8.2% | 4.6% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Costa Mesa CA | 108,881 | $112K | 9.1% | 4.7% | 13% | A− |
| 52 | Roseville CA | 167,302 | $119K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 22% | A− |
| 53 | Orange CA | 138,365 | $117K | 9.5% | 4.9% | 13% | A− |
| 54 | Toms River Township NJ | 100,899 | $100K | 5.8% | 4.3% | 22% | A− |
| 55 | Fort Collins CO | 171,500 | $85K | 15.8% | 5.4% | 47% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 261 | 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 Orange, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Orange and its neighbors: 23% work next door
The biggest share goes to Anaheim (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orange workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | – | A− | A | 26 min | $117,113 |
| Anaheim | 9% | B | A | 27 min | $95,227 |
| North Tustin | under 3% | A | A− | 23 min | $177,351 |
| Santa Ana | 9% | B+ | A | 25 min | $93,999 |
| Garden Grove | 2% | B | A− | 29 min | $92,174 |
| Tustin | 3% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $112,503 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Orange’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 Orange: questions
What is the median household income in Orange?
$117,113 (±$4,442) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orange?
9.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orange?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orange work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Irvine (10%, 9 mi), Anaheim (9%, 8 mi), Santa Ana (9%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orange walkable?
Orange is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orange without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 35% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orange, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orange
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.