Work & commute · Scotts Valley

Work & commute in Scotts Valley, CA

Most working residents leave Scotts Valley for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are San Jose (13%), Santa Cruz (12%) and Santa Clara (3%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

641 of 5,352 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,711 Scotts Valley residents head out of town to work, 641 work right here, and 5,890 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Scotts Valley.

4,711live here, work elsewhere

641live and work here

5,890work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Scotts Valley goes to work

San Jose19.9 mi away

13%700

Santa Cruz5.8 mi away

12%666

Scotts Valley (in town)right here

12%641

Santa Clara21.5 mi away

3%178

Sunnyvale22.8 mi away

3%178

Live Oak5.1 mi away

3%176

San Francisco72.7 mi away

3%154

Mountain View24.1 mi away

2%132

Palo Alto24.6 mi away

2%119

Watsonville16 mi away

2%116

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%2,292

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

How far

How far Scotts Valley commutes

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

36%

31%

17%

15%

36%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Scotts Valley is balanced between jobs and homes

1.22jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Scotts Valley are

6,531 jobs are based in Scotts Valley. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Scotts Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Scotts Valley

6,531 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Scotts Valley residents hold

5,352 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+2%

Jobs based in Scotts Valley, 2013 → 2023: 6,422 → 6,531. 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.