Photo: The Sands of Time 0 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Sunnyvale earn more than those in 98% of U.S. towns
Sunnyvale grades A for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Poverty touches 5.8% of residents, against 12.0% across California. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 6.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 7.6 in San Jose.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Sunnyvale and work: the main findings
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
84% of Sunnyvale’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 87% of the jobs based in Sunnyvale. The jobs ↓
A lot of Sunnyvale works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders Sunnyvale: San Jose (14%), Mountain View (10%) and Santa Clara (8%). Next door ↓
A lot of Sunnyvale works from home
29% of Sunnyvale workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Most Sunnyvale residents work close to home
66% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 8% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Commutes from Sunnyvale 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.
Sunnyvale’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sunnyvale is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #67 of 847 in California. Household income holds Sunnyvale’s grade up ($186,170, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sunnyvale stays A.
87% of the jobs in Sunnyvale pay over $3,333 a month
103,348 jobs are based in Sunnyvale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sunnyvale, 2013 → 2023: 84,219 → 103,348. 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 Sunnyvale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Sunnyvale, about 23 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sunnyvale workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 60,943 commuters (the 29% 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.
How far it is to work from Sunnyvale
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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Sunnyvale
On a workday 66,074 residents head out to work, 10,794 work right here, and 92,554 people come in from elsewhere.
About 183,000 people are in Sunnyvale on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.34 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.
14% of working residents work in San Jose
Where Sunnyvale clocks in
14% of workers
10% of workers
8% 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.
In Sunnyvale, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sunnyvale is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #47 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Sunnyvale near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 86,100 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 33% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 88% 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). 7.0% of Sunnyvale households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Sunnyvale’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
10th of 214: where Sunnyvale ranks among U.S. towns of 110,000 to 211,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| 3 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | League City TX | 119,905 | $121K | 5.4% | 3.8% | 12% | A |
| 9 | Cary NC | 183,582 | $135K | 5.7% | 3.5% | 19% | A |
| 10 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| 11 | Alexandria VA | 160,662 | $120K | 7.9% | 3.3% | 15% | A |
| 12 | Lisle Township IL | 119,740 | $119K | 5.0% | 4.5% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Santa Clara CA | 133,446 | $179K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Roseville CA | 167,302 | $119K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 214 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Sunnyvale, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 41% of Sunnyvale
The biggest share goes to San Jose (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sunnyvale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunnyvale | – | A | A+ | 23 min | $186,170 |
| Cupertino | 6% | A | A | 24 min | $234,707 |
| Mountain View | 10% | A | A+ | 23 min | $189,917 |
| Santa Clara | 8% | A− | A+ | 23 min | $178,958 |
| Los Altos | under 2% | A | A+ | 22 min | $250,000+ |
| San Jose | 14% | A− | A | 27 min | $146,427 |
| Fremont | 3% | A | A+ | 30 min | $181,506 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sunnyvale’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 Sunnyvale: questions
What is the median household income in Sunnyvale?
$186,170 (±$5,402) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sunnyvale?
5.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sunnyvale?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 29% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sunnyvale work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Jose (14%, 13 mi), Mountain View (10%, 3 mi), Santa Clara (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sunnyvale walkable?
Sunnyvale is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.6 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sunnyvale without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 33% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sunnyvale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sunnyvale
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.