Photo: Davishan99 · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Temecula top those of 89% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Temecula; the top destination outside it is San Diego (8%, 46 miles). Below the poverty line: 7.3% of residents, against 12.0% across California. Temecula grades B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Temecula in brief
Temecula’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Temecula is San Diego, 46 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (3,323) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Temecula workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical 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.
The four measures behind Temecula’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Temecula is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #327 of 847 in California. Household income holds Temecula’s grade up ($121,063, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, 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, Temecula could be anywhere from B to A−.
Temecula’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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.
Each way, about 36 minutes from Temecula
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Temecula workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 42,418 commuters (the 19% 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.
A workday in Temecula: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 32,178 residents head out to work, 9,277 work right here, and 42,471 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 (1.25 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.
Out of Temecula to work: where people go
Where Temecula clocks in
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.
Jobs in Temecula: what the 51,748 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Temecula, 2013 → 2023: 43,490 → 51,748. 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 Temecula’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Temecula, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Temecula is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #524 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 52,471 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 41% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 2.7% of Temecula households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Temecula’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Temecula is 152nd of 368 U.S. towns of 80,000 to 155,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Livermore CA | 83,457 | $161K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 150 | Manchester NH | 116,818 | $81K | 11.2% | 3.3% | 36% | B+ |
| 151 | Orem UT | 95,214 | $83K | 10.2% | 3.9% | 21% | B+ |
| 152 | Temecula CA | 114,865 | $121K | 7.3% | 5.7% | 22% | B+ |
| 153 | Bend OR | 107,342 | $96K | 8.8% | 3.7% | 60% | B+ |
| 154 | San Buenaventura (Ventura) CA | 109,914 | $103K | 10.4% | 4.8% | 30% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 368 | Lawton OK | 90,503 | $54K | 21.1% | 8.1% | 55% | 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 Temecula, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work in the towns next to Temecula
The biggest share goes to Murrieta (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Temecula’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 Temecula: questions
What is the median household income in Temecula?
$121,063 (±$4,177) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Temecula?
7.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Temecula?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Temecula work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (8%, 46 mi), Murrieta (6%, 6 mi), Los Angeles (3%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Temecula walkable?
Temecula is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Temecula without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Temecula, from the people who make the trip.
More of Temecula
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.