Photo: Roofus at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Soquel are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 9.7%, where California as a whole has 12.0%. For jobs and income Soquel is better than 56% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (A). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Soquel in brief
Soquel trades workers with the towns around it
Soquel has about as many jobs (3,335) as working residents (3,898), but they are mostly different people: 3,649 residents leave for work each day while 3,086 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Soquel are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Soquel and Santa Cruz trade workers both ways
Santa Cruz is the top workplace for Soquel residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Soquel come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Soquel are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Soquel
Household income holds Soquel’s grade up ($118,777, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.6%, 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, Soquel could be anywhere from B− to A−.
A workday in Soquel: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,649 residents head out to work, 249 work right here, and 3,086 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 (0.86 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.
16% of working residents work in Santa Cruz
Where Soquel clocks in
16% of workers
7% 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.
The daily trip from Soquel: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Soquel workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,776 commuters (the 16% 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.
Soquel makes things: 28% of its jobs are in goods
3,335 jobs are based in Soquel.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Soquel, 2013 → 2023: 3,219 → 3,335. 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 Soquel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Soquel
About 20% 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.
Soquel is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,481 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 52% 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 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 4.1% of Soquel households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Soquel’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Soquel ranks: 1,560th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,558 | Grand Haven MI | 11,038 | $61K | 14.5% | 1.8% | 22% | B |
| 1,559 | Clay Township OH | 8,910 | $76K | 7.8% | 5.4% | 12% | B |
| 1,560 | Soquel CA | 10,679 | $119K | 9.7% | 7.6% | 6% | B |
| 1,561 | Brockport NY | 7,736 | $70K | 16.1% | 2.7% | 11% | B |
| 1,562 | Gladstone OR | 11,865 | $91K | 13.6% | 5.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Soquel, the top three, the last and three more from California.
14% of Soquel works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Live Oak (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Soquel’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 Soquel: questions
What is the median household income in Soquel?
$118,777 (±$4,243) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Soquel?
9.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Soquel?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Soquel work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Cruz (16%, 5 mi), San Jose (7%, 22 mi), Live Oak (6%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Soquel walkable?
Soquel is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Soquel without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Soquel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Soquel
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.