Photo: Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Vallejo commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
26,197 jobs are based in Vallejo; 50,572 of its residents have a job. Vallejo grades B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 3.6 in Fairfield.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Vallejo stands out on work
Vallejo’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Vallejo is San Francisco, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (4,303) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Vallejo workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 38 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.
Where Vallejo’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vallejo is better than 48% of U.S. towns, #519 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Vallejo’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vallejo could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
How far Vallejo goes to work
About 17% 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.
The daily trip from Vallejo: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vallejo workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 50,042 commuters (the 12% 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 a workday changes Vallejo
On a workday 43,799 residents head out to work, 6,773 work right here, and 19,424 people come in from elsewhere.
About 99,000 people are in Vallejo on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
9% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Vallejo clocks in
5% of workers
5% 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.
What Vallejo’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vallejo, 2013 → 2023: 27,665 → 26,197. 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 Vallejo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Vallejo, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vallejo is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #211 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.3% 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 56,722 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 53% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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 Vallejo households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Vallejo’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Vallejo ranks: 214th of 334 U.S. towns of 86,000 to 166,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | San Ramon CA | 86,209 | $196K | 4.4% | 5.2% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Tyler TX | 113,723 | $67K | 12.5% | 4.5% | 51% | B− |
| 213 | Westminster CA | 88,966 | $86K | 14.4% | 7.2% | 7% | B− |
| 214 | Vallejo CA | 123,287 | $90K | 12.2% | 7.4% | 13% | B− |
| 215 | North Charleston SC | 129,245 | $63K | 14.4% | 4.3% | 34% | B− |
| 216 | Ramapo NY | 161,564 | $82K | 26.5% | 5.5% | 34% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 334 | 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 Vallejo, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Vallejo and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Benicia (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Vallejo’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 Vallejo: questions
What is the median household income in Vallejo?
$90,171 (±$3,810) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vallejo?
12.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vallejo?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vallejo work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (9%, 25 mi), Oakland (5%, 23 mi), Fairfield (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vallejo walkable?
Vallejo is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vallejo without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 53% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vallejo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vallejo
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.