Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in San Juan Capistrano are higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. Below the poverty line: 8.3% of residents, next to 12.0% across California. For jobs and income San Juan Capistrano is better than 86% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where San Juan Capistrano stands out on work
San Juan Capistrano trades workers with the towns around it
San Juan Capistrano has about as many jobs (15,466) as working residents (14,058), but they are mostly different people: 12,618 residents leave for work each day while 14,026 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in San Juan Capistrano are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
San Juan Capistrano has added jobs fast
Jobs based in San Juan Capistrano went from 11,433 in 2014 to 15,466 in 2024, +35%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
San Juan Capistrano’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Household income is its strongest input ($129,457, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Juan Capistrano could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Who works in San Juan Capistrano, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 12,618 residents head out to work, 1,440 work right here, and 14,026 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 (1.10 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in San Juan Capistrano
15,466 jobs are based in San Juan Capistrano.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Juan Capistrano, 2014 → 2024: 11,433 → 15,466. 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 San Juan Capistrano’s own residents hold wherever they work.
10% of working residents work in Irvine
Where San Juan Capistrano clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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 27 minutes each way for San Juan Capistrano’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Juan Capistrano workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,376 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from San Juan Capistrano
About 19% 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 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: San Juan Capistrano
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 17,388 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 55% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 10% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% 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). 3.4% of San Juan Capistrano households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of San Juan Capistrano’s commuters take a bus or train.
San Juan Capistrano is 315th of 1,194 U.S. towns of 25,000 to 47,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 313 | Glen Ellyn IL | 28,750 | $141K | 6.3% | 5.3% | 8% | A |
| 314 | Walnut CA | 27,316 | $129K | 10.1% | 3.5% | 7% | A |
| 315 | San Juan Capistrano CA | 35,119 | $129K | 8.3% | 3.6% | 10% | A |
| 316 | Londonderry NH | 27,844 | $133K | 2.7% | 5.0% | 14% | A |
| 317 | Hamilton Township OH | 33,226 | $119K | 3.1% | 4.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,194 | 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 San Juan Capistrano, the top three, the last and three more from California.
18% of San Juan Capistrano works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to San Clemente (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | San Juan Capistrano workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Juan Capistrano | – | A | A | 27 min | $129,457 |
| Laguna Niguel | 3% | A− | A− | 26 min | $140,452 |
| San Clemente | 6% | A− | B+ | 29 min | $140,062 |
| Dana Point | 4% | A | A | 30 min | $141,520 |
| Rancho Mission Viejo | under 3% | A | C+ | 29 min | $192,813 |
| Ladera Ranch | under 3% | A | B+ | 27 min | $184,458 |
| Mission Viejo | 5% | A | A− | 27 min | $136,123 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of San Juan Capistrano’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 San Juan Capistrano: questions
What is the median household income in San Juan Capistrano?
$129,457 (±$9,965) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Juan Capistrano?
8.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Juan Capistrano?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Juan Capistrano work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Irvine (10%, 14 mi), San Clemente (6%, 4 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is San Juan Capistrano walkable?
San Juan Capistrano is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.8 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Juan Capistrano without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 10% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Juan Capistrano, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Juan Capistrano
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.