Photo: Windsweptliberty · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Valley Springs, CA
7% of workers have no commute at all (California 17%). Only 3% work in Valley Springs; the top destination outside it is San Andreas (8%, 8 miles). Commuters spend 18 minutes getting to work on average, next to 29 for California and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Valley Springs: the gist
The better-paid jobs are outside Valley Springs
70% of Valley Springs residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 34% of the jobs based in Valley Springs pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Valley Springs are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 84 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 407 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs in Valley Springs: what the 535 are
535 jobs are based in Valley Springs.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Valley Springs, 2014 → 2024: 335 → 535. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Valley Springs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Valley Springs, by distance
About 42% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The trip to work from Valley Springs: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Valley Springs workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 350 commuters (the 7% 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.
Who works in Valley Springs, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 393 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 521 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Valley Springs on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.31 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Valley Springs to work: where people go
Where Valley Springs clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Springs: questions
What is the median household income in Valley Springs?
$45,786 (±$27,576) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Valley Springs?
25.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Valley Springs?
18 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Valley Springs work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Andreas (8%, 8 mi), Stockton (8%, 30 mi), Sacramento (6%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Valley Springs without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Valley Springs, from the people who make the trip.
More of Valley Springs
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.