Photo: BigBearCabins · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Big Bear Lake (5.3%) is higher than in 65% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.3 in Riverside. For jobs and income Big Bear Lake is better than 38% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (A+). About one in seven stay in Big Bear Lake for work; outside it, Los Angeles is the main destination (14%, 88 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Big Bear Lake, in brief
A big share show a job far from home
65% 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 ↓
Big Bear Lake trades workers with the towns around it
Big Bear Lake has about as many jobs (4,195) as working residents (3,581), but they are mostly different people: 3,115 residents leave for work each day while 3,729 people come in. Only 11% of the jobs in Big Bear Lake are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Big Bear Lake’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Big Bear Lake is Los Angeles, 88 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (512) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
How Big Bear Lake earns its Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Big Bear Lake’s grade up (6.2%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Big Bear Lake could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Big Bear Lake
About 65% 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.
Big Bear Lake by day and by night
On a workday 3,115 residents head out to work, 466 work right here, and 3,729 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,600 people are in Big Bear Lake on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 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 towns that employ Big Bear Lake’s residents
Where Big Bear Lake clocks in
2% 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.
What the 4,195 jobs in Big Bear Lake are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Bear Lake, 2013 → 2023: 3,480 → 4,195. 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 Big Bear Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Big Bear Lake spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Big Bear Lake workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,975 commuters (the 21% 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.
Big Bear Lake is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,494 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 44% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% 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). 4.9% of Big Bear Lake households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Big Bear Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Big Bear Lake is 2,443rd of 3,758 U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800
| # | 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 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,441 | Lemmon Valley NV | 4,412 | $76K | 9.0% | 10.9% | <1% | C+ |
| 2,442 | Landmark AR | 3,948 | $54K | 40.8% | 2.8% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,443 | Big Bear Lake CA | 5,018 | $76K | 6.2% | 5.3% | 13% | C+ |
| 2,444 | Parker FL | 4,832 | $70K | 6.8% | 8.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,445 | Clifton TX | 3,523 | $65K | 9.5% | 4.0% | 25% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | 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 Big Bear Lake, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Around Big Bear Lake: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Big Bear City (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Big Bear Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Bear Lake | – | C+ | A+ | 25 min | $76,250 |
| Big Bear City | 2% | D | A | 25 min | $71,511 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Big Bear Lake’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 Big Bear Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Big Bear Lake?
$76,250 (±$5,405) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Bear Lake?
6.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Bear Lake?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Bear Lake work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (14%, 88 mi), Long Beach (2%, 80 mi), San Diego (2%, 98 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Big Bear Lake walkable?
Big Bear Lake is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Big Bear Lake without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 44% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Big Bear Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Big Bear Lake
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.