Photo: Cedward Brice · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Rancho Palos Verdes top those of 98% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. 4.2% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. The two grades for Rancho Palos Verdes are A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Rancho Palos Verdes, in a few figures
Rancho Palos Verdes and Los Angeles trade workers both ways
Los Angeles is the top workplace for Rancho Palos Verdes residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Rancho Palos Verdes come from (26% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Rancho Palos Verdes works from home
28% of Rancho Palos Verdes workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Rancho Palos Verdes is a place people come home to
There are 5,864 jobs based in Rancho Palos Verdes, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Rancho Palos Verdes has about 25,000 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Rancho Palos Verdes
71% of Rancho Palos Verdes residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 53% of the jobs based in Rancho Palos Verdes pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Rancho Palos Verdes’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rancho Palos Verdes is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #85 of 847 in California. Household income holds Rancho Palos Verdes’ grade up ($179,623, 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, Rancho Palos Verdes could be anywhere from A− to A+.
26% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Rancho Palos Verdes clocks in
9% 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 33 minutes each way for Rancho Palos Verdes’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rancho Palos Verdes workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,732 commuters (the 28% 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 Rancho Palos Verdes
On a workday 19,433 residents head out to work, 863 work right here, and 5,001 people come in from elsewhere.
About 25,000 people are in Rancho Palos Verdes on a workday afternoon, 36% fewer than live here.
0.29 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 2024, primary jobs.
What the 5,864 jobs in Rancho Palos Verdes are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rancho Palos Verdes, 2014 → 2024: 4,848 → 5,864. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rancho Palos Verdes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Rancho Palos Verdes, by distance
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
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: Rancho Palos Verdes
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rancho Palos Verdes is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #290 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.0% 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 16,362 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, 23% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 3.5% of Rancho Palos Verdes households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Rancho Palos Verdes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Rancho Palos Verdes places 214th of 1,086 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 28,000 to 54,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Kailua HI | 39,640 | $149K | 4.0% | 3.8% | 14% | A |
| 213 | Lake Ridge VA | 46,049 | $127K | 5.8% | 4.0% | 3% | A |
| 214 | Rancho Palos Verdes CA | 39,654 | $180K | 4.2% | 5.5% | 4% | A |
| 215 | East Brunswick Township NJ | 50,678 | $143K | 5.8% | 4.7% | 12% | A |
| 216 | Woodstock GA | 39,895 | $103K | 6.6% | 2.7% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,086 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 25% | 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 Rancho Palos Verdes, the top three, the last and three more from California.
28% of Rancho Palos Verdes works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Los Angeles (26%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rancho Palos Verdes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rancho Palos Verdes | – | A | A | 33 min | $179,623 |
| Rolling Hills Estates | 2% | A | B+ | 27 min | $191,895 |
| Rolling Hills | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 32 min | $250,000+ |
| Los Angeles | 26% | B− | A+ | 31 min | $81,939 |
| Palos Verdes Estates | under 2% | A | B+ | 32 min | $242,014 |
| Lomita | under 2% | B+ | A+ | 26 min | $93,810 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rancho Palos Verdes’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 2024, 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 Rancho Palos Verdes: questions
What is the median household income in Rancho Palos Verdes?
$179,623 (±$9,558) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rancho Palos Verdes?
4.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rancho Palos Verdes?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 28% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rancho Palos Verdes work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (26%, 20 mi), Torrance (9%, 6 mi), Long Beach (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rancho Palos Verdes walkable?
Rancho Palos Verdes is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rancho Palos Verdes without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 23% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rancho Palos Verdes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rancho Palos Verdes
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.