Photo: Vcdrummer · CC BY 3.0Valley Center’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A−: better than 75% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #227 of 847 in California.
Walkability C−: more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns · #796 of 847 in California.
Working residents average 38 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). Only 7% work in Valley Center; the top destination outside it is San Diego (21%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Valley Center
Valley Center’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Valley Center is San Diego, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (883) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Valley Center workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 69 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.
What’s behind Valley Center’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Valley Center is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #227 of 847 in California. Household income holds Valley Center’s grade up ($132,361, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Valley Center could be anywhere from B− to A.
Half of Valley Center commutes less than 19 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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.
About 38 minutes each way, longer than most of California
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valley Center workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,253 commuters (the 18% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Valley Center quiets down on a workday
On a workday 4,006 residents head out to work, 286 work right here, and 1,515 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,600 people are in Valley Center on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.42 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
21% of working residents work in San Diego
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Valley Center clocks in
21% of workers
12% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 1,801 jobs in Valley Center are
1,801 jobs are based in Valley Center. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Valley Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valley Center, 2013 → 2023: 1,592 → 1,801. 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.
Most trips from Valley Center start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Valley Center is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #796 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.2% 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 5,195 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% 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). 0.6% of Valley Center households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Valley Center’s commuters take a bus or train.
Valley Center is 905th of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Valley Center, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 903 | River Ridge LA | 13,312 | $84K | 9.7% | 3.3% | 4% | A− |
| 904 | Lincolnwood IL | 13,039 | $110K | 6.3% | 7.8% | 6% | A− |
| 905 | Valley Center CA | 11,119 | $132K | 6.7% | 3.7% | 7% | A− |
| 906 | Spotswood NJ | 8,236 | $105K | 4.2% | 8.9% | 6% | A− |
| 907 | Elk Plain WA | 14,276 | $107K | 8.3% | 3.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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.
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 Valley Center: questions
What is the median household income in Valley Center?
$132,361 (±$25,204) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valley Center?
6.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valley Center?
38 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Valley Center work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (21%, 28 mi), Escondido (12%, 8 mi), San Marcos (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Valley Center walkable?
Valley Center is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Valley Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Valley Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valley Center
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.