Photo: Orcutteer · CC BY 4.0Orcutt has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.3 for each
Household incomes here are higher than in 84% of U.S. towns. There are 4,654 jobs in Orcutt, against 13,698 working residents. Jobs and income earn Orcutt 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
Orcutt at work: what stands out
Orcutt and Santa Maria trade workers both ways
Santa Maria is the top workplace for Orcutt residents (30%) and also where the most people who work in Orcutt come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Orcutt are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Orcutt has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Orcutt went from 3,263 in 2013 to 4,654 in 2023, +43%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Orcutt’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orcutt is better than 74% of U.S. towns, #248 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($111,416, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orcutt could be anywhere from B to A−.
30% of working residents work in Santa Maria
Where Orcutt clocks in
5% 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.
Getting to work from Orcutt takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orcutt workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 13,131 commuters (the 9% 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.
Orcutt works in goods: 30% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orcutt, 2013 → 2023: 3,263 → 4,654. 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 Orcutt’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Orcutt quiets down on a workday
On a workday 12,294 residents head out to work, 1,404 work right here, and 3,250 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Orcutt on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer 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.
How far it is to work from Orcutt
About 27% 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.
In Orcutt, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orcutt is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #320 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.2% 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 14,377 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 4.1% of Orcutt households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Orcutt’s commuters take a bus or train.
Orcutt next to U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000: 574th of 1,334 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 572 | Deptford Township NJ | 32,600 | $92K | 9.7% | 4.3% | 8% | B+ |
| 573 | East Palo Alto CA | 28,872 | $113K | 10.3% | 5.1% | 5% | B+ |
| 574 | Orcutt CA | 31,454 | $111K | 8.0% | 3.6% | 10% | B+ |
| 575 | Eastmont WA | 23,721 | $139K | 6.4% | 7.3% | 1% | B+ |
| 576 | Annandale VA | 41,705 | $116K | 12.1% | 4.9% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Orcutt, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work next door: 30% of Orcutt’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Orcutt workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orcutt | – | B+ | A | 22 min | $111,416 |
| Santa Maria | 30% | C+ | A | 22 min | $84,746 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Santa Maria. Darker towns draw more of Orcutt’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 Orcutt: questions
What is the median household income in Orcutt?
$111,416 (±$8,890) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orcutt?
8.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orcutt?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orcutt work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Maria (30%, 5 mi), San Luis Obispo (5%, 31 mi), Santa Barbara (4%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orcutt walkable?
Orcutt is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orcutt without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orcutt, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orcutt
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.