Photo: Cristiano Tomás · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Rio del Mar are higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Rio del Mar A−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Poverty touches 2.3% of residents, against 12.0% across California. Working from home is the commute for 30% of workers; California has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Rio del Mar at work: what stands out
Home offices are common in Rio del Mar
30% of Rio del Mar workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
A longer commute than the towns next door
Rio del Mar averages 30 minutes each way, more than any bordering town (24 to 26 minutes). Next door ↓
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 Rio del Mar
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rio del Mar is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #172 of 847 in California. Household income holds Rio del Mar’s grade up ($159,929, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, 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, Rio del Mar could be anywhere from B+ to A.
About 30 minutes each way for Rio del Mar’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rio del Mar workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,222 commuters (the 30% 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 many people are in Rio del Mar by day
On a workday 2,912 residents head out to work, 184 work right here, and 1,079 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,400 people are in Rio del Mar on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
10% of working residents work in Santa Cruz
Where Rio del Mar clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
Jobs in Rio del Mar: what the 1,263 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rio del Mar, 2013 → 2023: 1,096 → 1,263. 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 Rio del Mar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Rio del Mar
About 22% 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 Rio del Mar, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rio del Mar is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #575 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% 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 4,619 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, 31% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 1.8% of Rio del Mar households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rio del Mar’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,886 U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,400, Rio del Mar comes 829th 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 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 827 | Taylor Mill KY | 7,144 | $89K | 10.9% | 2.1% | 1% | A− |
| 828 | Eastampton Township NJ | 6,603 | $110K | 5.7% | 5.5% | 2% | A− |
| 829 | Rio del Mar CA | 9,201 | $160K | 2.3% | 5.7% | 6% | A− |
| 830 | Bogota NJ | 9,816 | $103K | 4.6% | 7.1% | 3% | A− |
| 831 | Oakland TN | 10,835 | $98K | 5.8% | 3.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,886 | 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 Rio del Mar, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Rio del Mar
The biggest share goes to Aptos (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rio del Mar workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio del Mar | – | A− | B+ | 30 min | $159,929 |
| La Selva Beach | under 3% | A− | B+ | 26 min | $160,833 |
| Seacliff | under 3% | A− | A− | 24 min | $130,385 |
| Aptos | 5% | B+ | A | 25 min | $134,048 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rio del Mar’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 Rio del Mar: questions
What is the median household income in Rio del Mar?
$159,929 (±$26,135) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rio del Mar?
2.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rio del Mar?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rio del Mar work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Cruz (10%, 8 mi), Watsonville (9%, 7 mi), San Jose (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rio del Mar walkable?
Rio del Mar is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rio del Mar without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 31% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rio del Mar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rio del Mar
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.