Photo: Jss3255 · CC BY-SA 4.029% of Arcata’s residents are college students
About one in three work in Arcata itself; outside it, Eureka draws the most (26%, 6 miles). Jobs and income earn Arcata C; getting around on foot earns it A+. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Arcata
Most Arcata residents work close to home
75% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. How far ↓
Commutes from Arcata are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Income, poverty and work: Arcata’s grade explained
On family income, poverty and job access, Arcata is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #633 of 847 in California. Family income holds Arcata’s grade up ($91,661, U.S. $99,999); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.4%, U.S. 11.9%).
Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (22% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 17.4%, against 27.2% for all residents. Unemployment (11.9%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($91,661), since student households pull the household median down ($46,713).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Arcata could be anywhere from C− to B−.
The distance from Arcata to work
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Arcata’s commute takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arcata workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,551 commuters (the 15% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The daily flow of workers through Arcata
On a workday 4,198 residents head out to work, 2,355 work right here, and 6,624 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Arcata on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Arcata commutes to
Where Arcata clocks in
26% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Inside Arcata’s 8,979 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arcata, 2013 → 2023: 8,851 → 8,979. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Arcata’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Arcata
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arcata is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #46 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Arcata near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,922 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 85% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 60% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.6% of Arcata households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Arcata’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Arcata is 1,607th of 2,023 U.S. towns of 13,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 134 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,605 | Auburn ME | 25,441 | $67K | 13.8% | 7.0% | 27% | C |
| 1,606 | Oxford AL | 22,199 | $74K | 15.8% | 5.5% | 19% | C |
| 1,607 | Arcata CA | 19,047 | $47K | 27.2% | 11.9% | 36% | C |
| 1,608 | Sterling IL | 14,394 | $57K | 15.3% | 3.8% | 29% | C |
| 1,609 | Willmar MN | 22,001 | $62K | 13.1% | 4.8% | 60% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,023 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Arcata, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Arcata and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to McKinleyville (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Arcata workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcata | – | C | A+ | 18 min | $46,713 |
| McKinleyville | 5% | C− | A− | 21 min | $73,327 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Arcata’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Students. 29% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Arcata: questions
What is the median household income in Arcata?
$46,713 (±$7,736) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arcata?
27.2% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 17.4%. California: 12.0%.
How long is the commute from Arcata?
18 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arcata work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eureka (26%, 6 mi), McKinleyville (5%, 6 mi), Myrtletown (2%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arcata walkable?
Arcata is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arcata without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 60% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arcata, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arcata
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.