Photo: Amin Eshaiker · CC BY-SA 3.0At 11.9%, unemployment in Barstow is higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.3 in Riverside. The two grades for Barstow are D− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Barstow: the gist
A big share show a job far from home
68% 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 ↓
Barstow’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Barstow is Los Angeles, 98 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (807) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
No single place dominates Barstow’s commute
The biggest draw, Los Angeles, gets only 8% of working residents, and 58% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Barstow residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
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.
Barstow’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Barstow is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #822 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Barstow’s grade up (ahead of 21% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Barstow could be anywhere from D− to D.
Half of Barstow commutes less than 73 miles
About 68% 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.
8% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Barstow clocks in
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.
Barstow quiets down on a workday
On a workday 8,472 residents head out to work, 1,692 work right here, and 4,039 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Barstow on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
0.56 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.
Inside Barstow’s 5,731 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Barstow, 2013 → 2023: 5,890 → 5,731. 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 Barstow’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 28 minutes each way for Barstow’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Barstow workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,994 commuters (the 6% 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.
Barstow is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Barstow is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #147 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Barstow 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 8,514 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 53% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% 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). 9.6% of Barstow households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Barstow’s commuters take a bus or train.
Barstow and other U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,638 | Natchitoches LA | 17,146 | $37K | 35.9% | 7.1% | 46% | D |
| 1,639 | Bay City TX | 17,488 | $54K | 26.0% | 13.3% | 23% | D− |
| 1,640 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | D− |
| 1,641 | Belle Glade FL | 17,241 | $48K | 27.3% | 9.7% | 15% | D− |
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Barstow, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Barstow
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Barstow’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.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Barstow: questions
What is the median household income in Barstow?
$53,380 (±$9,390) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Barstow?
23.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Barstow?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Barstow work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (8%, 98 mi), Fort Irwin (5%, 33 mi), Victorville (3%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Barstow walkable?
Barstow is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Barstow without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 53% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Barstow, from the people who make the trip.
More of Barstow
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.