Santa Rosa Valley ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Jobs and income earn Santa Rosa Valley A; getting around on foot earns it C−. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. 2.9% of residents live below the poverty line (California 12.0%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Santa Rosa Valley: the figures worth knowing
Home offices are common in Santa Rosa Valley
37% of Santa Rosa Valley workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Santa Rosa Valley’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Santa Rosa Valley is Los Angeles, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (198) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Santa Rosa Valley is a place people come home to
There are 319 jobs based in Santa Rosa Valley, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Santa Rosa Valley has about 1,800 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Santa Rosa Valley’s workforce skews older
37% of Santa Rosa Valley’s working residents are 55 or older. 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.
What’s behind Santa Rosa Valley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Santa Rosa Valley is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #97 of 847 in California. Household income holds Santa Rosa Valley’s grade up ($213,973, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.8%, 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, Santa Rosa Valley could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
The trip to work from Santa Rosa Valley: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santa Rosa Valley workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 758 commuters (the 37% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Santa Rosa Valley
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How a workday changes Santa Rosa Valley
On a workday 1,299 residents head out to work, 41 work right here, and 278 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Santa Rosa Valley on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.24 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 2024, primary jobs.
Factories, building and farms: 31% of the jobs in Santa Rosa Valley
319 jobs are based in Santa Rosa Valley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santa Rosa Valley, 2014 → 2024: 288 → 319. 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 Rosa Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
15% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Santa Rosa Valley clocks in
11% of workers
10% 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 Rosa Valley is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Santa Rosa Valley is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns, #813 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,211 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 0.0% of Santa Rosa Valley households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Santa Rosa Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
515th of 5,131: where Santa Rosa Valley ranks among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 513 | Poynette WI | 2,924 | $94K | 6.6% | 0.0% | 8% | A |
| 514 | Friendship WI | 2,774 | $70K | 1.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 515 | Santa Rosa Valley CA | 2,780 | $214K | 2.9% | 4.8% | 3% | A |
| 516 | Brimfield MA | 3,739 | $111K | 3.6% | 2.1% | 8% | A |
| 517 | Wales NY | 3,019 | $89K | 4.3% | 1.2% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,131 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 0% | 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 Rosa Valley, the top three, the last and three more from California.
12% of Santa Rosa Valley works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Thousand Oaks (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Santa Rosa Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Rosa Valley | – | A | C− | 32 min | $213,973 |
| Thousand Oaks | 10% | B+ | A | 25 min | $135,603 |
| Moorpark | 2% | A− | B+ | 29 min | $148,480 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Santa Rosa Valley’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 Rosa Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Santa Rosa Valley?
$213,973 (±$42,178) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santa Rosa Valley?
2.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santa Rosa Valley?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Santa Rosa Valley work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (15%, 32 mi), Camarillo (11%, 8 mi), Thousand Oaks (10%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Santa Rosa Valley walkable?
Santa Rosa Valley is more walkable than 16% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santa Rosa Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santa Rosa Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santa Rosa Valley
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.