Photo: Keith Winkler · Public domainUnemployment in Armona (17.2%) is among the highest in the country
0% of workers work from home (California 17%). Armona grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.0 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 the numbers say about work in Armona
Few Armona workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Armona and Hanford trade workers both ways
Hanford is the top workplace for Armona residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Armona come from (33% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Armona are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 54 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.
What’s behind Armona’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Armona is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #675 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Armona’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Armona could be anywhere from D to A.
Time on the road from Armona: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Armona workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,400 commuters (the 0% 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.
18% of working residents work in Hanford
Where Armona clocks in
18% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Armona
On a workday 1,192 residents head out to work, 57 work right here, and 560 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Armona on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.49 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Goods jobs make up 31% of work in Armona
617 jobs are based in Armona.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Armona, 2013 → 2023: 470 → 617. 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 Armona’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Armona
About 24% 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.
Armona is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Armona is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #344 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,400 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 7.8% of Armona households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Armona’s commuters take a bus or train.
Armona places 3,303rd of 4,364 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Emerald Lake Hills CA | 4,235 | $250K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,301 | Kingsford MI | 5,096 | $62K | 9.0% | 6.4% | 20% | C |
| 3,302 | Wildwood NJ | 5,068 | $75K | 13.7% | 7.4% | 18% | C |
| 3,303 | Armona CA | 3,890 | $64K | 11.2% | 17.2% | 5% | C |
| 3,304 | Salem MO | 4,674 | $44K | 11.1% | 3.0% | 28% | C |
| 3,305 | Kutztown PA | 4,255 | $53K | 20.6% | 6.2% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,364 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Armona, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Armona: questions
What is the median household income in Armona?
$64,276 (±$16,310) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Armona?
11.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Armona?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Armona work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hanford (18%, 3 mi), Lemoore (7%, 5 mi), Fresno (5%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Armona walkable?
Armona is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Armona without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Armona, from the people who make the trip.
More of Armona
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.