Santa Monica Looff Hippodrome · Photo: Richard Wang took this photo and has released it under the GDFL. · CC BY-SA 3.0Santa Monica draws 74,755 commuters a day, with 2.1 jobs for every working resident
Santa Monica grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 81,290 jobs are based in Santa Monica; 39,049 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, Santa Monica is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Santa Monica apart on work
Home offices are common in Santa Monica
38% of Santa Monica workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Santa Monica and Los Angeles trade workers both ways
Los Angeles is the top workplace for Santa Monica residents (41%) and also where the most people who work in Santa Monica come from (44% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Santa Monica is where the jobs are
Santa Monica has 81,290 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 132,000 people are in town, 47% more than the 90,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Santa Monica pay over $40,000 a year
77% of the jobs based in Santa Monica pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Santa Monica
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Santa Monica is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #316 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Santa Monica’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, 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 Monica could be anywhere from B to A−.
About 25 minutes each way for Santa Monica’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santa Monica workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 31,042 commuters (the 38% 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.
Commuting in to Santa Monica: where workers come from
Where Santa Monica clocks in
3% 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.
Santa Monica on a workday afternoon
On a workday 32,514 residents head out to work and 6,535 work right here.
About 132,000 people are in Santa Monica on a workday afternoon, 47% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Santa Monica is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Monica, 2014 → 2024: 78,532 → 81,290. 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 Santa Monica’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Santa Monica
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.
Santa Monica is among the most walkable U.S. towns
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Santa Monica is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #15 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Santa Monica 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 50,357 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, 86% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 28.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, among the most 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). 11.4% of Santa Monica households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Santa Monica’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 63,000 to 122,000, Santa Monica ranks 234th of 502 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 232 | Tonawanda NY | 70,853 | $78K | 9.8% | 3.7% | 15% | B+ |
| 233 | Iowa City IA | 76,229 | $59K | 26.3% | 4.6% | 57% | B+ |
| 234 | Santa Monica CA | 90,082 | $115K | 11.2% | 6.7% | 17% | B+ |
| 235 | Gloucester Township NJ | 67,085 | $101K | 8.4% | 7.0% | 8% | B+ |
| 236 | West Covina CA | 105,301 | $101K | 10.0% | 6.5% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 502 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 50% | 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 Santa Monica, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Santa Monica and its neighbors: 41% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Santa Monica workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica | – | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $114,885 |
| Los Angeles | 41% | B− | A+ | 31 min | $81,939 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Los Angeles. Darker towns draw more of Santa Monica’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 Santa Monica: questions
What is the median household income in Santa Monica?
$114,885 (±$7,492) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santa Monica?
11.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santa Monica?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 38% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Santa Monica work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (41%, 5 mi), Burbank (6%, 16 mi), Culver City (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Santa Monica walkable?
Santa Monica is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 16.3 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santa Monica without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 86% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Monica, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Monica
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.