Work & commute · Aptos

Work & commute in Aptos, CA

Most working residents leave Aptos for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Santa Cruz (14%), Watsonville (7%) and Live Oak (6%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

194 of 2,513 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,319 Aptos residents head out of town to work, 194 work right here, and 2,685 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Aptos.

2,319live here, work elsewhere

194live and work here

2,685work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Aptos goes to work

Santa Cruz7.9 mi away

14%343

Aptos (in town)right here

8%194

Watsonville8.2 mi away

7%185

Live Oak4.8 mi away

6%153

San Jose21.5 mi away

6%148

San Francisco80.6 mi away

4%111

Capitola3.5 mi away

3%83

Soquel3.1 mi away

3%75

Scotts Valley7.9 mi away

3%69

Rio del Mar2.3 mi away

2%47

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%1,105

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Aptos commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

51%

14%

15%

21%

51%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Aptos is balanced between jobs and homes

1.15jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Aptos are

2,879 jobs are based in Aptos. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Aptos’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Aptos

2,879 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Aptos residents hold

2,513 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month68%

−7%

Jobs based in Aptos, 2013 → 2023: 3,095 → 2,879. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.