Photo: Soundsfancy · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Pismo Beach have higher incomes than those in 87% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. Poverty touches 6.9% of residents; California has 12.0%. Pismo Beach grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Pismo Beach: the gist
The better-paid jobs are outside Pismo Beach
65% of Pismo Beach residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 40% of the jobs based in Pismo Beach pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 89% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Pismo Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
32% of the jobs based in Pismo Beach are held by workers 29 or younger, against 19% of Pismo Beach’s own working residents. 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.
Inside Pismo Beach’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pismo Beach is better than 72% of U.S. towns, #265 of 847 in California. Household income holds Pismo Beach’s grade up ($118,072, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.4%, 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, Pismo Beach could be anywhere from B to A.
In Pismo Beach, services account for most jobs
3,955 jobs are based in Pismo Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pismo Beach, 2013 → 2023: 3,545 → 3,955. 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 Pismo Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 23 minutes each way for Pismo Beach’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pismo Beach workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,145 commuters (the 17% 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.
A workday in Pismo Beach: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 2,632 residents head out to work, 328 work right here, and 3,627 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,900 people are in Pismo Beach on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.34 per resident).
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 Luis Obispo
Where Pismo Beach clocks in
19% 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.
How far it is to work from Pismo Beach
About 29% 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 Pismo Beach, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pismo Beach is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #392 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% 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 3,776 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 71% 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 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 2.5% of Pismo Beach households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pismo Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,700, Pismo Beach ranks 1,049th of 3,069 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,047 | Waterford Township NJ | 10,562 | $112K | 8.0% | 5.7% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,048 | East Hanover Township PA | 6,100 | $100K | 5.7% | 5.4% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,049 | Pismo Beach CA | 7,911 | $118K | 6.9% | 4.4% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,050 | Mascotte FL | 10,150 | $84K | 4.6% | 1.5% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,051 | Canfield OH | 7,584 | $97K | 4.1% | 6.0% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,069 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Pismo Beach, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Pismo Beach
The biggest share goes to Arroyo Grande (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pismo Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pismo Beach | – | B+ | A− | 23 min | $118,072 |
| Grover Beach | 3% | B− | A | 20 min | $86,458 |
| Avila Beach | under 2% | A | A+ | 21 min | $218,259 |
| Arroyo Grande | 5% | A− | A | 24 min | $102,553 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pismo Beach’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 Pismo Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Pismo Beach?
$118,072 (±$10,159) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pismo Beach?
6.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pismo Beach?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pismo Beach work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Luis Obispo (19%, 8 mi), Santa Maria (9%, 20 mi), Arroyo Grande (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pismo Beach walkable?
Pismo Beach is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pismo Beach without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pismo Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pismo Beach
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.