Work & commute · La Quinta

Work & commute in La Quinta, CA

Most working residents leave La Quinta for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Palm Desert (13%), Indio (9%) and Palm Springs (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

1,832 of 13,972 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

18%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 12,140 La Quinta residents head out of town to work, 1,832 work right here, and 9,597 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in La Quinta.

12,140live here, work elsewhere

1,832live and work here

9,597work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where La Quinta goes to work

La Quinta (in town)right here

13%1,832

Palm Desert8.8 mi away

13%1,785

Indio6.8 mi away

9%1,232

Palm Springs19.2 mi away

6%794

Rancho Mirage12.6 mi away

5%767

Los Angeles125.6 mi away

3%457

San Diego74.3 mi away

3%384

Indian Wells5.5 mi away

3%373

Coachella8.2 mi away

2%338

Riverside67.7 mi away

2%326

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%5,684

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

How far

How far La Quinta commutes

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

48%

12%

38%

48%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

38%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

La Quinta is balanced between jobs and homes

0.82jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.82 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in La Quinta are

11,429 jobs are based in La Quinta. Here is what they are, next to the jobs La Quinta’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in La Quinta

11,429 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs La Quinta residents hold

13,972 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+14%

Jobs based in La Quinta, 2013 → 2023: 10,052 → 11,429. 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.