Photo: FASTILY · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Blackhawk are among the highest of any U.S. town
The poverty rate is 5.6% (California 12.0%). Measured by household income, Blackhawk is among the highest-earning towns in the country. For jobs and income Blackhawk is better than 92% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Blackhawk
A lot of Blackhawk works from home
38% of Blackhawk workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Blackhawk workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 36 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 276 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Blackhawk’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Blackhawk is San Francisco, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (413) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Three in four Blackhawk workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Blackhawk’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs based in Blackhawk itself pay less: 61% are in that band. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Blackhawk is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 7% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
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.
The figures behind Blackhawk’s Jobs & income grade
Household income is its strongest input ($245,208, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Blackhawk could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Blackhawk’s commute takes about 36 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blackhawk workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,752 commuters (the 38% 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 distance from Blackhawk to work
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.
In Blackhawk, services account for most jobs
1,736 jobs are based in Blackhawk.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blackhawk, 2013 → 2023: 1,676 → 1,736. 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 Blackhawk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Blackhawk quiets down on a workday
On a workday 3,813 residents head out to work, 126 work right here, and 1,610 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,900 people are in Blackhawk on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.44 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.
10% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Blackhawk clocks in
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.
Blackhawk is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 17.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 6.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,414 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 0.3% of Blackhawk households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Blackhawk’s commuters take a bus or train.
Blackhawk places 342nd of 2,878 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 340 | Lititz PA | 9,689 | $89K | 4.1% | 1.8% | 11% | A |
| 341 | Penn Township PA | 10,693 | $88K | 4.7% | 0.8% | 10% | A |
| 342 | Blackhawk CA | 10,137 | $245K | 5.6% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| 343 | Westlake FL | 9,042 | $132K | 3.2% | 2.8% | 1% | A |
| 344 | Marlboro Village MD | 9,382 | $123K | 2.5% | 4.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Blackhawk, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Blackhawk
The biggest share goes to Danville (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Blackhawk workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackhawk | – | A | A− | 36 min | $245,208 |
| Danville | 4% | A | A | 33 min | $232,216 |
| Diablo | under 3% | A− | A− | 33 min | $248,150 |
| Camino Tassajara | under 3% | A− | A | 45 min | $250,000+ |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Blackhawk’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 Blackhawk: questions
What is the median household income in Blackhawk?
$245,208 (±$27,390) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blackhawk?
5.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blackhawk?
36 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 38% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blackhawk work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (10%, 28 mi), San Ramon (7%, 3 mi), Pleasanton (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Blackhawk walkable?
Blackhawk is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Blackhawk without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blackhawk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blackhawk
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.