Work & commute · Santa Margarita

Work & commute in Santa Margarita, CA

Most working residents leave Santa Margarita for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are San Luis Obispo (20%), Atascadero (14%) and El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) (7%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10 of 446 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 436 Santa Margarita residents head out of town to work, 10 work right here, and 174 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Santa Margarita.

436live here, work elsewhere

10live and work here

174work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Santa Margarita goes to work

San Luis Obispo9.2 mi away

20%88

Atascadero8 mi away

14%61

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)16.7 mi away

7%32

Templeton13.1 mi away

5%23

Los Angeles156.6 mi away

3%14

Santa Maria32.9 mi away

2%10

Santa Margarita (in town)right here

2%10

Morro Bay14.2 mi away

1%6

Los Osos13.5 mi away

1%6

Pismo Beach16.7 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%191

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

How far

How far Santa Margarita commutes

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

39%

27%

28%

39%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Santa Margarita is a commuter town

0.41jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Santa Margarita are

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

Jobs based in Santa Margarita

184 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities39%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Santa Margarita residents hold

446 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month64%

−19%

Jobs based in Santa Margarita, 2013 → 2023: 226 → 184. 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.