Photo: Abby Lanes · CC BY-SA 3.0Palos Verdes Estates ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Below the poverty line: 2.9% of residents; California has 12.0%. The two grades for Palos Verdes Estates are A for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Palos Verdes Estates
Palos Verdes Estates and Los Angeles trade workers both ways
Los Angeles is the top workplace for Palos Verdes Estates residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Palos Verdes Estates come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Palos Verdes Estates is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
A lot of Palos Verdes Estates works from home
26% of Palos Verdes Estates workers work from home, against 17% across California. 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.
The figures behind Palos Verdes Estates’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palos Verdes Estates is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #36 of 847 in California. Household income holds Palos Verdes Estates’ grade up ($242,014, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, 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, Palos Verdes Estates could be anywhere from A− to A+.
25% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Palos Verdes Estates clocks in
10% 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.
In Palos Verdes Estates, services account for most jobs
2,490 jobs are based in Palos Verdes Estates.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palos Verdes Estates, 2013 → 2023: 2,096 → 2,490. 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 Palos Verdes Estates’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Palos Verdes Estates spends getting to work: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palos Verdes Estates workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,706 commuters (the 26% 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 daily flow of workers through Palos Verdes Estates
On a workday 5,701 residents head out to work, 326 work right here, and 2,164 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,000 people are in Palos Verdes Estates on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.41 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.
Half of Palos Verdes Estates commutes less than 19 miles
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.
Getting around Palos Verdes Estates: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palos Verdes Estates is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #595 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 5,018 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 42% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 2.1% of Palos Verdes Estates households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Palos Verdes Estates’ commuters take a bus or train.
Palos Verdes Estates next to U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000: 266th of 2,354 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 264 | North Londonderry Township PA | 9,109 | $109K | 4.2% | 2.1% | 5% | A |
| 265 | Rossmoor CA | 11,532 | $212K | 4.2% | 3.6% | 2% | A |
| 266 | Palos Verdes Estates CA | 12,559 | $242K | 2.9% | 4.7% | 5% | A |
| 267 | Berthoud CO | 14,080 | $119K | 4.6% | 1.5% | 8% | A |
| 268 | Ringwood NJ | 11,853 | $152K | 2.5% | 4.8% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Palos Verdes Estates, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Palos Verdes Estates and its neighbors: 10% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palos Verdes Estates workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palos Verdes Estates | – | A | B+ | 32 min | $242,014 |
| Rancho Palos Verdes | under 2% | A | A | 33 min | $179,623 |
| Rolling Hills Estates | under 2% | A | B+ | 27 min | $191,895 |
| Torrance | 10% | A− | A− | 27 min | $116,217 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Torrance. Darker towns draw more of Palos Verdes Estates’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 Palos Verdes Estates: questions
What is the median household income in Palos Verdes Estates?
$242,014 (±$34,614) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palos Verdes Estates?
2.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palos Verdes Estates?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palos Verdes Estates work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (25%, 17 mi), Torrance (10%, 6 mi), El Segundo (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palos Verdes Estates walkable?
Palos Verdes Estates is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palos Verdes Estates without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 42% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palos Verdes Estates, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palos Verdes Estates
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.