Work & commute · Ballard

Work & commute in Ballard, CA

Most working residents leave Ballard for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Santa Barbara (9%), Solvang (9%) and Los Olivos (7%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 235 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

39 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

35%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 231 Ballard residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 249 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ballard.

231live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

249work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ballard goes to work

Santa Barbara27.9 mi away

9%22

Solvang3.8 mi away

9%21

Los Olivos1.4 mi away

7%16

Santa Ynez1.9 mi away

6%14

Los Angeles106.1 mi away

5%12

Buellton5.2 mi away

4%9

Goleta20.2 mi away

4%9

Eastern Goleta Valley22.9 mi away

3%8

Santa Maria27.6 mi away

3%6

Lompoc20.6 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%113

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

How far

How far Ballard commutes

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

40%

11%

15%

34%

40%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

34%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ballard is balanced between jobs and homes

1.08jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Ballard are

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

Jobs based in Ballard

253 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)59%

Trade, transport & utilities4%

Services (health, schools, offices…)37%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Ballard residents hold

235 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+14%

Jobs based in Ballard, 2013 → 2023: 222 → 253. 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.