Latimer Cabin · Photo: Steveirwin1 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Laguna Beach commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
559 jobs are based in Laguna Beach; 1,484 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Laguna Beach B; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 31.0 in Miami.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Laguna Beach: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Laguna Beach are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 28 across Florida. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Florida worker. Time on the road ↓
Laguna Beach and Panama City Beach trade workers both ways
Panama City Beach is the top workplace for Laguna Beach residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Laguna Beach come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Laguna Beach makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Laguna Beach are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Laguna Beach residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 11%. The jobs ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Laguna Beach: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Laguna Beach is better than 58% of U.S. towns, #272 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate holds Laguna Beach’s grade up (5.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Laguna Beach could be anywhere from C to A−.
How long Laguna Beach spends getting to work: 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 Laguna Beach workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,794 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
20% of working residents work in Panama City Beach
Where Laguna Beach clocks in
20% 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.
Laguna Beach works in goods: 36% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Laguna Beach, 2013 → 2023: 500 → 559. 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 Laguna Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Laguna Beach quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,431 residents head out to work, 53 work right here, and 506 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Laguna Beach on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
How far Laguna Beach goes to work
About 24% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Laguna Beach
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Laguna Beach is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #135 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,108 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% 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 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 1.6% of Laguna Beach households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Laguna Beach’s commuters take a bus or train.
Laguna Beach next to U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200: 1,831st of 4,264 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,829 | Soo Township MI | 2,983 | $79K | 5.4% | 2.5% | 6% | B |
| 1,830 | Mechanic Township OH | 3,256 | $91K | 7.2% | 3.8% | 6% | B |
| 1,831 | Laguna Beach FL | 3,830 | $77K | 5.5% | 2.8% | 4% | B |
| 1,832 | Osage City KS | 2,784 | $71K | 8.9% | 1.3% | 23% | B |
| 1,833 | Montgomery Township IN | 4,039 | $68K | 7.4% | 2.2% | 11% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Laguna Beach, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
20% of Laguna Beach works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Laguna Beach workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laguna Beach | – | B | A | 18 min | $76,607 |
| Panama City Beach | 20% | C+ | A− | 21 min | $80,941 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Panama City Beach. Darker towns draw more of Laguna Beach’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 Laguna Beach: questions
What is the median household income in Laguna Beach?
$76,607 (±$13,195) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Laguna Beach?
5.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Laguna Beach?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Laguna Beach work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Panama City Beach (20%, 5 mi), Panama City (13%, 25 mi), Upper Grand Lagoon (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Laguna Beach walkable?
Laguna Beach is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Laguna Beach without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Laguna Beach, from the people who make the trip.
More of Laguna Beach
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.