Photo: rosalynn carmen · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Solana Beach have higher incomes than those in 95% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 0.2 in San Diego. Below the poverty line: 5.5% of residents (California 12.0%). For jobs and income Solana Beach is better than 93% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Solana Beach in brief
Much of Solana Beach works one town over
46% of working residents work in a town that borders Solana Beach: San Diego (38%), Encinitas (6%) and Del Mar (2%). Next door ↓
Home offices are common in Solana Beach
31% of Solana Beach workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Solana Beach is where the jobs are
Solana Beach has 8,288 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Solana Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Solana Beach’s grade explained
Household income is its strongest input ($152,167, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Solana Beach could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How long Solana Beach spends getting to work: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Solana Beach workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,057 commuters (the 31% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Solana Beach
On a workday 4,354 residents head out to work, 502 work right here, and 7,786 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Solana Beach on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where Solana Beach’s workforce comes from
Where Solana Beach clocks in
38% of workers
6% 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.
66% of the jobs in Solana Beach pay over $3,333 a month
8,288 jobs are based in Solana Beach.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Solana Beach, 2013 → 2023: 7,395 → 8,288. 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 Solana Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Solana Beach
About 25% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Solana Beach
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,868 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 67% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 5% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 5.0% of Solana Beach households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Solana Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Solana Beach is 294th of 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 292 | Portland CT | 9,449 | $119K | 3.9% | 3.3% | 9% | A |
| 293 | Buck Creek Township IN | 10,674 | $111K | 2.9% | 3.5% | 3% | A |
| 294 | Solana Beach CA | 12,602 | $152K | 5.5% | 3.5% | 10% | A |
| 295 | Glen Rock NJ | 12,288 | $215K | 1.3% | 6.0% | 6% | A |
| 296 | New Hyde Park NY | 10,226 | $143K | 3.6% | 4.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Solana Beach, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 46% of Solana Beach
The biggest share goes to San Diego (38%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Solana Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solana Beach | – | A | A+ | 21 min | $152,167 |
| Encinitas | 6% | A− | A | 25 min | $162,229 |
| San Diego | 38% | B+ | A | 24 min | $108,077 |
| Del Mar | 2% | A+ | B+ | 22 min | $199,152 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Solana Beach’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 Solana Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Solana Beach?
$152,167 (±$33,424) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Solana Beach?
5.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Solana Beach?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 31% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Solana Beach work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (38%, 14 mi), Carlsbad (6%, 10 mi), Encinitas (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Solana Beach walkable?
Solana Beach is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.3 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Solana Beach without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 5% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Solana Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Solana Beach
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.