Work & commute · Mecca

Work & commute in Mecca, CA

Most working residents leave Mecca for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Indio (13%), Coachella (8%) and Palm Desert (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

161 of 2,782 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,621 Mecca residents head out of town to work, 161 work right here, and 619 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Mecca.

2,621live here, work elsewhere

161live and work here

619work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Mecca goes to work

Indio14.6 mi away

13%364

Coachella9.1 mi away

8%213

Palm Desert20.5 mi away

6%173

Mecca (in town)right here

6%161

La Quinta12.6 mi away

4%101

Los Angeles138.1 mi away

3%95

Thermal5.1 mi away

3%77

Riverside80.3 mi away

3%74

Vista Santa Rosa8.9 mi away

2%69

North Shore9.8 mi away

2%62

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%1,393

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

How far

How far Mecca commutes

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

24%

32%

38%

24%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

38%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Mecca is a commuter town

0.28jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.28 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Mecca are

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

Jobs based in Mecca

780 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)43%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)40%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month39%

Jobs Mecca residents hold

2,782 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)50%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month42%

−27%

Jobs based in Mecca, 2013 → 2023: 1,062 → 780. 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.