Work & commute · El Cajon

Work & commute in El Cajon, CA

Most working residents leave El Cajon for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are San Diego (38%), La Mesa (4%) and Santee (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

6,817 of 44,561 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 37,744 El Cajon residents head out of town to work, 6,817 work right here, and 33,187 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in El Cajon.

37,744live here, work elsewhere

6,817live and work here

33,187work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where El Cajon goes to work

San Diego9.5 mi away

38%17,138

El Cajon (in town)right here

15%6,817

La Mesa3.9 mi away

4%1,644

Santee4 mi away

3%1,380

Chula Vista12.4 mi away

3%1,357

Los Angeles118.6 mi away

2%982

Poway13.3 mi away

2%826

National City12.4 mi away

1%529

Lemon Grove6.4 mi away

1%403

Rancho San Diego3.6 mi away

1%399

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%13,086

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

How far

How far El Cajon commutes

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

38%

42%

18%

38%Under 10 mi

42%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

El Cajon is balanced between jobs and homes

0.90jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in El Cajon are

40,004 jobs are based in El Cajon. Here is what they are, next to the jobs El Cajon’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in El Cajon

40,004 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs El Cajon residents hold

44,561 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+18%

Jobs based in El Cajon, 2013 → 2023: 34,045 → 40,004. 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.