Photo: Coolsheep2 · CC BY-SA 4.0Santa Ana has higher household incomes than 72% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 8.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. The poverty rate is 10.8%, against 12.0% across California. Santa Ana 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
Santa Ana and work: the main findings
Santa Ana trades workers with the towns around it
Santa Ana has about as many jobs (148,634) as working residents (124,808), but they are mostly different people: 102,481 residents leave for work each day while 126,307 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Santa Ana are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Santa Ana works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Santa Ana: Irvine (12%), Orange (5%) and Costa Mesa (5%). Next door ↓
Most Santa Ana residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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.
Santa Ana’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Santa Ana is better than 71% of U.S. towns, #275 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Santa Ana’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Santa Ana could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
A workday in Santa Ana: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 102,481 residents head out to work, 22,327 work right here, and 126,307 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 (1.19 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Santa Ana
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.
12% of working residents work in Irvine
Where Santa Ana clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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.
65% of the jobs in Santa Ana pay over $3,333 a month
148,634 jobs are based in Santa Ana.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Ana, 2013 → 2023: 149,501 → 148,634. 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 Santa Ana’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Santa Ana’s commute takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santa Ana workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 140,012 commuters (the 9% 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.
Santa Ana is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Santa Ana is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #188 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.0% 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 154,427 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, 44% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 8.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 6.0% of Santa Ana households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Santa Ana’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Santa Ana is 15th of 68 U.S. towns of 221,000 to 426,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Santa Clarita CA | 228,430 | $123K | 7.4% | 5.6% | 21% | A− |
| 14 | Irvine CA | 318,764 | $137K | 10.8% | 5.9% | 29% | B+ |
| 15 | Santa Ana CA | 315,586 | $94K | 10.8% | 4.8% | 18% | B+ |
| 16 | Anchorage AK | 287,155 | $103K | 8.9% | 4.6% | — | B+ |
| 17 | Chesapeake VA | 255,332 | $95K | 9.4% | 4.9% | 31% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Fontana CA | 221,223 | $103K | 9.9% | 6.5% | 9% | B+ |
| 22 | Chula Vista CA | 275,533 | $108K | 8.7% | 8.0% | 17% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Santa Ana, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Bordering towns draw 28% of Santa Ana’s workers
The biggest share goes to Irvine (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Santa Ana workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Ana | – | B+ | A | 25 min | $93,999 |
| Tustin | 3% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $112,503 |
| Orange | 5% | A− | A | 26 min | $117,113 |
| Garden Grove | 3% | B | A− | 29 min | $92,174 |
| Fountain Valley | under 3% | B+ | B+ | 26 min | $115,237 |
| Costa Mesa | 5% | A− | A | 22 min | $111,505 |
| Irvine | 12% | B+ | A | 25 min | $136,719 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Santa Ana’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 Santa Ana: questions
What is the median household income in Santa Ana?
$93,999 (±$2,896) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santa Ana?
10.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santa Ana?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Santa Ana work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Irvine (12%, 8 mi), Anaheim (7%, 11 mi), Orange (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Santa Ana walkable?
Santa Ana is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santa Ana without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 44% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Ana, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Ana
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.