Edgemoor Farm Dairy Barn · Photo: Somewikistuff · CC BY-SA 3.0Work means San Diego for about half of Santee’s working residents
Only 8% stay in Santee for work; outside it, San Diego is the main destination (47%, 8 miles). Jobs and income earn Santee A−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Household incomes here are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Santee: the figures worth knowing
Where Santee’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Santee is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #167 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Santee’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Santee could be anywhere from B+ to A.
In and out of Santee on a workday
On a workday 24,283 residents head out to work, 2,094 work right here, and 14,479 people come in from elsewhere.
About 48,000 people are in Santee on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.63 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 2023, primary jobs.
The places Santee commutes to
Where Santee clocks in
47% of workers
7% of workers
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.
Santee makes things: 30% of its jobs are in goods
16,573 jobs are based in Santee.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Santee, 2013 → 2023: 13,819 → 16,573. 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 Santee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Santee, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Santee workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23,043 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.
Santee’s commute, mile by mile
About 15% 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.
Santee is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Santee is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #368 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% 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 27,866 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 70% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.3% of Santee households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Santee’s commuters take a bus or train.
Santee places 244th of 749 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 41,000 to 79,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 242 | West Orange Township NJ | 49,557 | $130K | 7.4% | 6.0% | 7% | A− |
| 243 | Jupiter FL | 62,350 | $110K | 9.5% | 3.0% | 21% | A− |
| 244 | Santee CA | 58,205 | $113K | 7.9% | 4.7% | 8% | A− |
| 245 | Tuckahoe VA | 49,183 | $102K | 7.4% | 4.2% | 6% | A− |
| 246 | Oro Valley AZ | 48,085 | $107K | 6.5% | 2.3% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 749 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Santee, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 54% of Santee
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Santee workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santee | – | A− | A− | 27 min | $113,394 |
| San Diego | 47% | B+ | A | 24 min | $108,077 |
| El Cajon | 7% | C | A | 25 min | $67,511 |
| Winter Gardens | under 1% | B+ | A− | 26 min | $97,973 |
| Bostonia | under 1% | B− | A | 25 min | $78,878 |
| Eucalyptus Hills | under 1% | A | C− | 23 min | $144,140 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to San Diego. Darker towns draw more of Santee’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 Santee: questions
What is the median household income in Santee?
$113,394 (±$5,920) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Santee?
7.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Santee?
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 Santee work?
8% work in town.
Is Santee walkable?
Santee is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Santee without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Santee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Santee
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.