Photo: Armona · CC BY-SA 3.0At 12.7%, unemployment in Avenal is higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
2% of workers work from home (California 17%). The two grades for Avenal are D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Avenal at work: what stands out
Avenal trades workers with the towns around it
Avenal has about as many jobs (2,828) as working residents (3,264), but they are mostly different people: 2,825 residents leave for work each day while 2,389 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Avenal are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Avenal’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Avenal is Fresno, 55 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (278) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The jobs in Avenal pay better than its residents’ jobs
81% of the jobs based in Avenal pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 52% of the jobs Avenal residents hold. 84% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Avenal. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
50% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Few Avenal workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
Why Avenal gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Avenal is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #824 of 847 in California. Household income holds Avenal’s grade up ($54,741, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Avenal could be anywhere from D− to D.
Who commutes out of Avenal, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,825 residents head out to work, 439 work right here, and 2,389 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 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.
Miles to work from Avenal
About 50% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Avenal
2,828 jobs are based in Avenal.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Avenal, 2013 → 2023: 1,892 → 2,828. 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 Avenal’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Avenal, about 36 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Avenal workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,978 commuters (the 1% 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.
9% of working residents work in Fresno
Where Avenal clocks in
9% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Few in Avenal walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Avenal is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #591 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 4,037 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 69% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 6.3% of Avenal households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Avenal’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Avenal compares with U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,506 | Jesup GA | 10,301 | $47K | 20.9% | 11.1% | 32% | D− |
| 2,507 | Sweet Home OR | 10,308 | $57K | 19.4% | 10.6% | 16% | D− |
| 2,508 | Avenal CA | 13,479 | $55K | 19.2% | 12.7% | 13% | D− |
| 2,509 | Laurinburg NC | 14,582 | $42K | 31.1% | 11.0% | 21% | D− |
| 2,510 | Avon Park FL | 10,514 | $36K | 23.3% | 9.2% | 11% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 Avenal, 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 Avenal: questions
What is the median household income in Avenal?
$54,741 (±$8,162) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Avenal?
19.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Avenal?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Avenal work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (9%, 55 mi), Coalinga (4%, 14 mi), Visalia (3%, 49 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Avenal walkable?
Avenal is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Avenal without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Avenal, from the people who make the trip.
More of Avenal
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.