Work & commute · Pala

Work & commute in Pala, CA

Most working residents leave Pala for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are San Diego (14%), Escondido (5%) and Oceanside (5%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14 of 359 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 345 Pala residents head out of town to work, 14 work right here, and 406 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Pala.

345live here, work elsewhere

14live and work here

406work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Pala goes to work

San Diego37 mi away

14%50

Escondido16 mi away

5%19

Oceanside16.8 mi away

5%17

Pala (in town)right here

4%14

Los Angeles89.5 mi away

4%13

Chula Vista51 mi away

3%10

Temecula9.7 mi away

3%9

Carlsbad20.6 mi away

3%9

San Marcos17 mi away

2%8

Valley Center9.5 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

57%203

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

How far

How far Pala commutes

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

24%

27%

22%

26%

24%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Pala is balanced between jobs and homes

1.17jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Pala are

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

Jobs based in Pala

420 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities3%

Services (health, schools, offices…)96%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Pala residents hold

359 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+23%

Jobs based in Pala, 2013 → 2023: 341 → 420. 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.