Commuting Workforce Data

An Estimated 10,000 Skilled Workers Commute to the Coast from the Temecula Valley. What If They Didn't Have To? Every morning, thousands of engineers, technicians, and skilled tradespeople leave the Temecula Valley and head down the I-15 to jobs in San Diego and Los Angeles. They build aircraft components, develop medical devices, program CNC machines, and design the clean energy systems of tomorrow.

Today we're releasing the 2026 Outbound Labor Analysis, a new look at where our workforce goes each day and what that means for the Valley's economic future.

The Valley by the numbers

The five-city Temecula Valley (Temecula, Murrieta, Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, and Menifee) is home to roughly 200,800 employed residents. About 84% work outside their home city. Much of that is movement within the Valley, but the report estimates that 25,000 to 40,000 or more residents commute to the San Diego and Los Angeles/Orange County job centers.
Commute times are long. The Valley average is roughly 39 minutes each way, and in Menifee, 12.2% of workers report super-commutes of more than 90 minutes.

The talent we're exporting
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We zeroed in on four industries that anchor the coastal economy: aerospace and defense, advanced manufacturing, life sciences, and clean technology. Across the occupations that support those sectors, we estimate about 10,080 Valley residents commute out for work, roughly 65% to San Diego County and 35% to Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The mix is broad:

• Engineers: mechanical, aerospace, electrical, electronics, biomedical, and industrial
• Production and skilled trades: team assemblers, welders, machinists, CNC operators, and electricians
• Science and lab roles: chemists, biochemists, and lab technicians
• Cross-industry talent: software developers and engineering managers

These are good jobs. Average annual wages in the report range from about $51,000 for production roles to more than $203,000 for engineering managers.

Why this matters

Our residents have already built the skills that high-value employers need. Many of them would welcome the chance to use those skills closer to home.
For an aerospace supplier, a medical-device manufacturer, or a clean-tech company weighing where to grow, the Valley offers something rare: an experienced workforce already living here, more affordable housing than the coast, and a chance to offer employees a shorter commute and a better quality of life. That's a retention advantage as much as a cost advantage.

What comes next

​This report is a starting point. We'll use it to focus business attraction on the four industry clusters and work with our workforce and education partners to align training with the occupations identified. We also plan to refine these estimates with more detailed commuting data as needed for site-selection conversations.

Download the full report below:

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