Photo: Public domain · Public domainMore people are out of work in Vista (6.6%) than in 79% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Vista for work; outside it, San Diego is the main destination (16%, 26 miles). Vista grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Measured by household income, Vista is ahead of 73% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Vista, in a few figures
A lot of Vista works one town over
30% of working residents work in a town that borders Vista: Carlsbad (14%), Oceanside (10%) and San Marcos (6%). Next door ↓
Vista’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Vista is San Diego, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (6,521) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 Vista earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vista is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #413 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Vista’s grade up (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vista could be anywhere from B− to B+.
How far it is to work from Vista
About 19% 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.
How a workday changes Vista
On a workday 36,546 residents head out to work, 5,422 work right here, and 26,711 people come in from elsewhere.
About 88,000 people are in Vista on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
The towns that employ Vista’s residents
Where Vista clocks in
16% of workers
14% of workers
10% 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.
A place that makes things: 30% of Vista’s jobs are in goods
32,133 jobs are based in Vista.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vista, 2013 → 2023: 29,159 → 32,133. 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 Vista’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vista workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 41,435 commuters (the 16% 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.
Vista is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% 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 49,417 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 80% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 15.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 4.6% of Vista households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Vista’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Vista ranks: 236th of 439 U.S. towns of 69,000 to 133,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 26 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 234 | St. Joseph Township IN | 79,623 | $73K | 10.4% | 4.0% | 11% | B |
| 235 | Greece NY | 94,484 | $80K | 10.6% | 5.1% | 16% | B |
| 236 | Vista CA | 98,274 | $95K | 10.5% | 6.6% | 13% | B |
| 237 | Lake Elsinore CA | 75,067 | $102K | 9.4% | 6.3% | 9% | B |
| 238 | San Tan Valley AZ | 109,189 | $97K | 8.0% | 4.3% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 439 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Vista, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Bordering towns draw 30% of Vista’s workers
The biggest share goes to Carlsbad (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vista workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vista | – | B | A− | 27 min | $94,975 |
| Oceanside | 10% | B+ | A | 29 min | $97,737 |
| San Marcos | 6% | B+ | A− | 27 min | $109,377 |
| Carlsbad | 14% | A− | A− | 27 min | $142,748 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Vista’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 Vista: questions
What is the median household income in Vista?
$94,975 (±$4,768) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vista?
10.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vista?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vista work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (16%, 26 mi), Carlsbad (14%, 5 mi), Oceanside (10%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vista walkable?
Vista is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vista without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vista, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vista
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.