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Work & commute in Bombay Beach · A job hub

Every workday, about 270 people come to Bombay Beach for work

Most working residents leave Bombay Beach for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Yuma (7%), San Diego (7%) and El Centro (5%). Half commute less than 80 miles.

Work in town
5%
4 of 76 working residents
Typical commute
80 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Work from home
8%
Less than CA (17%)
Jobs based here
277
A job hub
Work out of state
25%
mostly Arizona

What kind of work town is Bombay Beach?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Day and night

Bombay Beach fills up on a workday

On a workday 72 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 273 people come in from elsewhere.

72live here, work elsewhere
4live and work here
273work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night360
Workday560
360live here− 72head out to work+ 270come in to work= 560on a workday

About 560 people are in Bombay Beach on a workday afternoon, 56% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
3.64jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

3.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

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 jobs

Bombay Beach makes things: 92% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in Bombay BeachJobs Bombay Beach residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms92%22%
Trade, transport & utilities0%16%
Services: health, schools, offices8%62%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less9%21%
$1,251–$3,333 a month4%36%
Over $3,333 a month87%43%

Who does it

29 or younger7%21%
30 to 5470%38%
55 and older23%41%
+889%

Jobs based in Bombay Beach, 2013 → 2023: 28 → 277. 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.

The commute map

Where Bombay Beach’s workers come from

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

SomertonYuma: 75 workers live here (27%)Calipatria: 5 workers live here (2%)Imperial: 22 workers live here (8%)Brawley: 56 workers live here (20%)Calexico: 19 workers live here (7%)El Centro: 24 workers live here (9%)San DiegoLos AngelesOntarioFortuna Foothills: 15 workers live here (5%)Bombay BeachHeber: 4 workers live here (1%)Alpine: 5 workers live here (2%)YumaBrawleyEl CentroImperialCalexicoFortuna FoothillsBombay Beach
1
Yuma, AZ90.8 mi away
27%75
2
Brawley28.5 mi away
20%56
3
El Centro40.5 mi away
9%24
4
Imperial36.8 mi away
8%22
5
Calexico48.3 mi away
7%19
65%15
7
Calipatria19 mi away
2%5
8
Alpine69.3 mi away
2%5
9
Bombay Beach (in town)right here
1%4
10
Heber44.5 mi away
1%4
Everywhere elseother towns and states
17%48
The top trips

Where Bombay Beach clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

How far

Half of Bombay Beach commutes less than 80 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miYuma: 7% · 90.8 miSan Diego: 7% · 88.5 miEl Centro: 5% · 40.5 miSomerton: 4% · 79.2 miLos Angeles: 4% · 161 miCalipatria: 3% · 19 miBrawley: 3% · 28.5 miCalexico: 3% · 48.3 miOntario: 3% · 117.8 miYuma 7%San Diego 7%El Centro 5%Los Angeles 4%Bombay Beach
Bombay BeachTop destinations (size = commuters)
16%Under 10 mi12 residents
3%10–24 mi2 residents
17%25–50 mi13 residents
64%Over 50 mi49 residents

About 64% 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.

Time on the road

Working from home in Bombay Beach

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

Working from home
8%

of Bombay Beach workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Bombay Beach

Bombay Beach home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Bombay Beach, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Bombay Beach worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

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.

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