Photo: Mrwrite · Public domainWatsonville has higher unemployment (7.7%) than 87% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Watsonville C; getting around on foot earns it A. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. Home is the office for 6% of workers, next to 17% for California as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Watsonville
How Watsonville earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Watsonville is better than 34% of U.S. towns, #617 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Watsonville’s grade up (ahead of 61% 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, Watsonville could be anywhere from C to B−.
Who leaves Watsonville for work, and who comes in
On a workday 15,418 residents head out to work, 4,359 work right here, and 12,764 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 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.
8% of working residents work in Santa Cruz
Where Watsonville clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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 Watsonville’s employers do
17,123 jobs are based in Watsonville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Watsonville, 2013 → 2023: 17,620 → 17,123. 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 Watsonville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Watsonville: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Watsonville workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 19,643 commuters (the 6% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Watsonville
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Watsonville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Watsonville is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns, #307 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% 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 20,992 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 70% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 7.0% of Watsonville households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Watsonville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Watsonville is 689th among 835 U.S. towns of 36,000 to 68,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 687 | Titusville FL | 49,800 | $66K | 11.3% | 5.0% | 21% | C |
| 688 | North Fort Myers FL | 44,993 | $56K | 14.8% | 4.6% | 8% | C |
| 689 | Watsonville CA | 50,716 | $78K | 14.7% | 7.7% | 22% | C |
| 690 | Panama City FL | 37,806 | $62K | 17.6% | 4.5% | 39% | C |
| 691 | Stonecrest GA | 61,337 | $65K | 16.7% | 8.6% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 835 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Watsonville, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Watsonville
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Watsonville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watsonville | – | C | A | 26 min | $78,393 |
| Freedom | under 2% | A− | A | 31 min | $93,750 |
| Amesti | under 2% | B− | C+ | 39 min | $108,833 |
| Interlaken | under 2% | B− | B | 26 min | $109,150 |
| Corralitos | under 2% | A− | C− | 21 min | $171,113 |
| Pajaro | under 2% | C | B− | 29 min | $84,875 |
| Day Valley | under 2% | B+ | B− | 29 min | $155,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Watsonville’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 Watsonville: questions
What is the median household income in Watsonville?
$78,393 (±$5,682) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Watsonville?
14.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Watsonville?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Watsonville work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Cruz (8%, 15 mi), San Jose (7%, 26 mi), Live Oak (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Watsonville walkable?
Watsonville is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Watsonville without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 70% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Watsonville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Watsonville
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.