Photo: Erica Fischer · CC BY 2.0Orinda ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
The two grades for Orinda are A+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Orinda is among the highest-earning towns in the country. Below the poverty line: 2.2% of residents, against 12.0% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Orinda at work: what stands out
Home offices are common in Orinda
39% of Orinda workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Orinda workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Orinda workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Orinda’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Orinda
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Orinda is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #8 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
The Census reports Orinda’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Orinda could be anywhere from A to A+.
About 36 minutes each way, longer than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Orinda workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,331 commuters (the 39% 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.
In Orinda, services account for most jobs
3,958 jobs are based in Orinda.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Orinda, 2013 → 2023: 3,373 → 3,958. 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 Orinda’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Orinda
On a workday 6,740 residents head out to work, 380 work right here, and 3,578 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Orinda on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.56 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.
19% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Orinda clocks in
11% of workers
5% 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.
Orinda’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Orinda
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Orinda is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #151 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 21.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 9.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,784 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 34% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 4.2% of Orinda households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 20% of Orinda’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Orinda ranks: 54th of 1,760 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Muskego WI | 25,602 | $112K | 3.0% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 53 | Symmes Township OH | 15,736 | $157K | 3.8% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| 54 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| 55 | Waunakee WI | 16,411 | $125K | 2.8% | 1.4% | 14% | A+ |
| 56 | Berlin CT | 20,698 | $114K | 3.4% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Orinda, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Orinda
The biggest share goes to Lafayette (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Orinda’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Orinda: questions
What is the median household income in Orinda?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Orinda?
2.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Orinda?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 39% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Orinda work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (19%, 16 mi), Oakland (11%, 8 mi), Berkeley (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Orinda walkable?
Orinda is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 21% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Orinda without a car?
20% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Orinda, from the people who make the trip.
More of Orinda
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.