Spring Valley has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
Employers in Spring Valley report 31 jobs for 235 working residents. Hardly any work in Spring Valley; the top destination outside it is Clearlake (12%, 8 miles). Home is the office for 1% of workers (California 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Spring Valley and work: the main findings
Spring Valley is a place people come home to
There are 31 jobs based in Spring Valley, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Spring Valley workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 44 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 337 hours of commuting, 115 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Spring Valley workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 235 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How a workday changes Spring Valley
On a workday 233 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 29 people come in from elsewhere.
About 650 people are in Spring Valley on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
A commute of about 44 minutes in Spring Valley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spring Valley workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 313 commuters (the 1% 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.
Where people from Spring Valley work
Where Spring Valley clocks in
12% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Spring Valley
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spring Valley, 2013 → 2023: 20 → 31. 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 Spring Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Spring Valley commutes less than 19 miles
About 29% 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.
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 Spring Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Spring Valley?
$48,679 (±$8,758) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spring Valley?
23.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spring Valley?
44 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spring Valley work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clearlake (12%, 8 mi), Lakeport (6%, 18 mi), Santa Rosa (6%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Spring Valley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spring Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spring Valley
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.