With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Twin Lakes works elsewhere
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. Twin Lakes has 939 jobs, and 1,807 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Twin Lakes are B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Twin Lakes
Twin Lakes and Santa Cruz trade workers both ways
Santa Cruz is the top workplace for Twin Lakes residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Twin Lakes come from (17% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Twin Lakes 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Twin Lakes
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Twin Lakes is better than 63% of U.S. towns, #379 of 847 in California. Household income holds Twin Lakes’ grade up ($90,087, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.6%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Twin Lakes could be anywhere from C+ to A.
22% of working residents work in Santa Cruz
Where Twin Lakes clocks in
22% 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.
Twin Lakes’ commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Twin Lakes workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,503 commuters (the 15% 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.
Twin Lakes on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,762 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 894 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Twin Lakes on a workday afternoon, 17% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Twin Lakes
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Twin Lakes, 2013 → 2023: 992 → 939. 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 Twin Lakes’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Twin Lakes’ workers travel
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Twin Lakes
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Twin Lakes is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #22 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Twin Lakes 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 2,948 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 73% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% 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). 6.7% of Twin Lakes households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Twin Lakes’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,600 to 6,800, Twin Lakes ranks 1,426th of 3,562 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,424 | Greencastle PA | 4,222 | $77K | 6.9% | 3.0% | 11% | B |
| 1,425 | Chester CT | 3,726 | $109K | 11.8% | 4.8% | 11% | B |
| 1,426 | Twin Lakes CA | 5,073 | $90K | 10.6% | 3.5% | 2% | B |
| 1,427 | Elverta CA | 4,769 | $91K | 8.0% | 6.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,428 | Mulberry OH | 3,821 | $76K | 6.6% | 5.4% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,562 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Twin Lakes, the top three, the last and three more from California.
29% of Twin Lakes works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Santa Cruz (22%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Twin Lakes workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Lakes | – | B | A+ | 21 min | $90,087 |
| Pleasure Point | under 3% | B+ | A | 23 min | $119,821 |
| Santa Cruz | 22% | B+ | A+ | 23 min | $115,475 |
| Live Oak | 7% | B | A+ | 22 min | $103,674 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Twin Lakes’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 Twin Lakes: questions
What is the median household income in Twin Lakes?
$90,087 (±$7,591) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Twin Lakes?
10.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Twin Lakes?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Twin Lakes work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Cruz (22%, 3 mi), Live Oak (7%, 2 mi), San Jose (6%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Twin Lakes walkable?
Twin Lakes is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.1 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Twin Lakes without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 73% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Twin Lakes, from the people who make the trip.
More of Twin Lakes
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.