Photo: dconvertini · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Pacific Grove top those of 81% of U.S. towns
Pacific Grove grades B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. The poverty rate is 7.6%; California has 12.0%. About one in seven stay in Pacific Grove for work; outside it, Monterey is the main destination (22%, 3 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Pacific Grove
Pacific Grove and Monterey trade workers both ways
Monterey is the top workplace for Pacific Grove residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Pacific Grove come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Pacific Grove 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 ↓
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 Pacific Grove earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pacific Grove is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #364 of 847 in California. Household income holds Pacific Grove’s grade up ($106,065, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.5%, 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, Pacific Grove could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Out of Pacific Grove to work: where people go
Where Pacific Grove clocks in
22% of workers
8% 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.
About 22 minutes to work from Pacific Grove
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pacific Grove workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,270 commuters (the 22% 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 a workday changes Pacific Grove
On a workday 4,358 residents head out to work, 674 work right here, and 2,656 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Pacific Grove on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
What Pacific Grove’s employers do
3,330 jobs are based in Pacific Grove.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pacific Grove, 2013 → 2023: 3,106 → 3,330. 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 Pacific Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Pacific Grove
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.
Pacific Grove is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pacific Grove is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #24 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Pacific Grove 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 6,739 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 72% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.9% of Pacific Grove households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Pacific Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000, Pacific Grove comes 1,169th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,167 | Avocado Heights CA | 12,593 | $92K | 11.5% | 5.9% | 3% | B |
| 1,168 | Gunbarrel CO | 10,051 | $109K | 8.8% | 6.2% | 3% | B |
| 1,169 | Pacific Grove CA | 14,659 | $106K | 7.6% | 5.5% | 13% | B |
| 1,170 | Loganville GA | 17,212 | $84K | 8.9% | 4.9% | 5% | B |
| 1,171 | Kenmore NY | 14,808 | $78K | 9.1% | 4.7% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | 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 Pacific Grove, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 26% of Pacific Grove
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pacific Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Grove | – | B | A+ | 22 min | $106,065 |
| Del Monte Forest | 4% | B+ | A | 24 min | $142,763 |
| Monterey | 22% | B | A+ | 19 min | $102,846 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Monterey. Darker towns draw more of Pacific Grove’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 Pacific Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Pacific Grove?
$106,065 (±$7,373) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pacific Grove?
7.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pacific Grove?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pacific Grove work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Monterey (22%, 3 mi), Salinas (8%, 17 mi), Del Monte Forest (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pacific Grove walkable?
Pacific Grove is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.7 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pacific Grove without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 72% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pacific Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pacific Grove
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.