Work & commute · Fountain Valley

Work & commute in Fountain Valley, CA

Most working residents leave Fountain Valley for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Irvine (10%), Santa Ana (8%) and Huntington Beach (6%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2,053 of 24,742 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 22,689 Fountain Valley residents head out of town to work, 2,053 work right here, and 26,163 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fountain Valley.

22,689live here, work elsewhere

2,053live and work here

26,163work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fountain Valley goes to work

Irvine10.6 mi away

10%2,516

Fountain Valley (in town)right here

8%2,053

Santa Ana4.3 mi away

8%1,940

Huntington Beach3.2 mi away

6%1,587

Los Angeles33.9 mi away

6%1,409

Costa Mesa3.8 mi away

5%1,234

Anaheim14.9 mi away

5%1,132

Newport Beach7.6 mi away

4%1,019

Garden Grove4.7 mi away

4%913

Long Beach13.4 mi away

3%763

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%10,176

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

How far

How far Fountain Valley commutes

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

54%

23%

13%

54%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fountain Valley is balanced between jobs and homes

1.14jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.14 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Fountain Valley are

28,216 jobs are based in Fountain Valley. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fountain Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fountain Valley

28,216 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Fountain Valley residents hold

24,742 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+3%

Jobs based in Fountain Valley, 2013 → 2023: 27,446 → 28,216. 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.