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Work & commute · Santee

Work & commute in Santee, CA

Most working residents leave Santee for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are San Diego (47%), El Cajon (7%) and La Mesa (3%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
8%
2,094 of 26,377 working residents
Typical commute
11 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
27 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 24,283 Santee residents head out of town to work, 2,094 work right here, and 14,479 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Santee.

24,283live here, work elsewhere
2,094live and work here
14,479work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Santee goes to work

National CityLa MesaEl CajonSanteeEscondidoPowaySan DiegoLos AngelesChula VistaBostoniaWinter GardensEucalyptus HillsLa PresaLakesideAlpineSan DiegoEl CajonLa MesaPowayChula VistaLos AngelesLakesideNational CityEscondidoSantee
1
San Diego8 mi away
47%12,428
2
Santee (in town)right here
8%2,094
3
El Cajon4 mi away
7%1,838
4
La Mesa6 mi away
3%857
5
Poway9.4 mi away
3%740
6
Chula Vista15.8 mi away
3%711
7
Los Angeles115 mi away
2%495
8
Lakeside4.8 mi away
1%255
9
National City14.7 mi away
1%246
10
Escondido19.9 mi away
1%242
Everywhere elseother towns and states
25%6,471

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

How far

How far Santee commutes

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

42%Under 10 mi
40%10–24 mi
2%25–50 mi
15%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Santee is a commuter town

0.63jobs per working resident
A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Santee are

16,573 jobs are based in Santee. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Santee’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Santee

16,573 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)30%
Trade, transport & utilities19%
Services (health, schools, offices…)51%
$1,250 a month or less13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month30%
Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Santee residents hold

26,377 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)16%
Trade, transport & utilities16%
Services (health, schools, offices…)68%
$1,250 a month or less10%
$1,251–$3,333 a month21%
Over $3,333 a month69%
+20%

Jobs based in Santee, 2013 → 2023: 13,819 → 16,573. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01
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