Work & commute · Capitola

Work & commute in Capitola, CA

Most working residents leave Capitola for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Santa Cruz (18%), Live Oak (7%) and San Jose (6%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

290 of 3,666 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

28%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,376 Capitola residents head out of town to work, 290 work right here, and 4,593 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Capitola.

3,376live here, work elsewhere

290live and work here

4,593work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Capitola goes to work

Santa Cruz4.5 mi away

18%661

Capitola (in town)right here

8%290

Live Oak1.6 mi away

7%241

San Jose23.4 mi away

6%226

Watsonville10.7 mi away

5%192

Soquel1.5 mi away

4%140

San Francisco78.7 mi away

4%133

Scotts Valley6.3 mi away

4%130

Aptos3.5 mi away

3%96

Palo Alto30.9 mi away

2%65

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%1,492

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

How far

How far Capitola commutes

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

50%

14%

16%

19%

50%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Capitola is balanced between jobs and homes

1.33jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Capitola are

4,883 jobs are based in Capitola. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Capitola’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Capitola

4,883 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Capitola residents hold

3,666 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month66%

−23%

Jobs based in Capitola, 2013 → 2023: 6,357 → 4,883. 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.