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Work & commute in Coto de Caza · A commuter town

95% of Coto de Caza’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Coto de Caza for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Irvine (15%), Los Angeles (6%) and Mission Viejo (5%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Work in town
5%
297 of 6,030 working residents
Typical commute
18 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
32 min
More than CA (29 min)
Work from home
34%
More than CA (17%)
Jobs based here
1,151
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Coto de Caza?

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

★ What stands out · The commute map

15% of working residents work in Irvine

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

Rancho Santa Margarita: 275 residents work here (5%)Mission Viejo: 320 residents work here (5%)Lake Forest: 221 residents work here (4%)Costa Mesa: 155 residents work here (3%)Laguna NiguelNewport Beach: 254 residents work here (4%)Santa Ana: 232 residents work here (4%)San Diego: 169 residents work here (3%)Los Angeles: 349 residents work here (6%)AnaheimIrvine: 906 residents work here (15%)Coto de CazaRancho Mission ViejoIrvineLos AngelesMission ViejoRancho Santa MargaritaNewport BeachSanta AnaCoto de Caza
1
Irvine12 mi away
15%906
2
Los Angeles55.6 mi away
6%349
3
Mission Viejo4.1 mi away
5%320
4
Coto de Caza (in town)right here
5%297
55%275
6
Newport Beach16.2 mi away
4%254
7
Santa Ana19.6 mi away
4%232
8
Lake Forest6.5 mi away
4%221
9
San Diego59.4 mi away
3%169
10
Costa Mesa19.3 mi away
3%155
Everywhere elseother towns and states
47%2,852
The top trips

Where Coto de Caza clocks in

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

Time on the road

About 32 minutes each way, longer than most of California

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

A year of commuting
242 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Coto de Caza32 min
California29 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
34%

of Coto de Caza workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.

About 3 in 10

How Coto de Caza ranks on commute time →

The jobs

What the 1,151 jobs in Coto de Caza are

1,151 jobs are based in Coto de Caza. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Coto de Caza’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Coto de CazaJobs Coto de Caza residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms15%13%
Trade, transport & utilities11%16%
Services: health, schools, offices74%71%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month25%16%
Over $3,333 a month61%73%

Who does it

29 or younger22%16%
30 to 5448%49%
55 and older30%35%
+44%

Jobs based in Coto de Caza, 2013 → 2023: 799 → 1,151. 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.

Day and night

Coto de Caza quiets down on a workday

On a workday 5,733 residents head out to work, 297 work right here, and 854 people come in from elsewhere.

5,733live here, work elsewhere
297live and work here
854work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night15,000
Workday10,000
15,000live here− 5,700head out to work+ 850come in to work= 10,000on a workday

About 10,000 people are in Coto de Caza on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.19jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.19 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.

How far

Half of Coto de Caza commutes less than 18 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 mi70 miIrvine: 15% · 12 miLos Angeles: 6% · 55.6 miMission Viejo: 5% · 4.1 miRancho Santa Margarita: 5% · 2.5 miNewport Beach: 4% · 16.2 miSanta Ana: 4% · 19.6 miLake Forest: 4% · 6.5 miSan Diego: 3% · 59.4 miCosta Mesa: 3% · 19.3 miIrvine 15%Los Angeles 6%Mission Viejo 5%Rancho Santa Margarita 5%Coto de Caza
Coto de CazaTop destinations (size = commuters)
31%Under 10 mi1,877 residents
34%10–24 mi2,023 residents
16%25–50 mi985 residents
19%Over 50 mi1,142 residents

About 19% 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.

Next door

Coto de Caza and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Rancho Santa Margarita (5%). Darker towns draw more of Coto de Caza’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Rancho Santa Margarita26 min
Rancho Mission Viejo29 min
Coto de Caza32 min
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 Coto de Caza

Coto de Caza home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Coto de Caza, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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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