Ross ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. Poverty touches 4.8% of residents, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. The two grades for Ross are A+ 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
Getting to work from Ross, in brief
Home offices are common in Ross
48% of Ross workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
One in three of Ross works in San Francisco
191 working residents, 35%, have their main job in San Francisco, 15 miles away. That’s 12 times as many as work in Ross itself. The commute map ↓
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; with 545 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Ross’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ross is better than 98% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
The Census reports Ross’ median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ross could be anywhere from A to A+.
A commute of about 26 minutes in Ross
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ross workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 592 commuters (the 48% 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.
35% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Ross clocks in
2% of workers
2% 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 many people are in Ross by day
On a workday 529 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 592 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
608 jobs are based in Ross.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ross, 2013 → 2023: 455 → 608. 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 Ross’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Ross goes to work
About 17% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Ross
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ross is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Ross 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 1,137 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, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% 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). 0.7% of Ross households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Ross’ commuters take a bus or train.
80th of 5,328: where Ross ranks among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Westlake TX | 2,057 | $250K | 6.6% | 1.9% | 4% | A+ |
| 79 | Rolling Hills CA | 1,641 | $250K | 5.5% | 5.6% | 2% | A+ |
| 80 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 81 | Lake Point UT | 2,947 | $137K | 2.0% | 1.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 82 | Sun Prairie WI | 2,291 | $127K | 2.0% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Rancho Santa Fe CA | 2,260 | $176K | 4.9% | 9.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Ross, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Ross
The biggest share goes to San Anselmo (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ross workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ross | – | A+ | A+ | 26 min | $250,000+ |
| Kentfield | under 2% | A | A+ | 25 min | $249,896 |
| San Anselmo | 2% | B+ | A+ | 30 min | $173,641 |
| San Rafael | 2% | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $119,435 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ross’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ross: questions
What is the median household income in Ross?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ross?
4.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ross?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 48% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ross work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (35%, 15 mi), Berkeley (2%, 16 mi), San Rafael (2%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ross walkable?
Ross is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 21% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ross without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ross, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ross
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.