Photo: San Luis Obispo County Visitors & Conventions Bureau · Public domainAt 8.3%, unemployment in Cambria is higher than in 89% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. The two grades for Cambria are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, Cambria is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Cambria apart on work
Commutes from Cambria are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
Cambria’s workforce skews older
36% of Cambria’s working residents are 55 or older. 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.
Why Cambria gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cambria is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #664 of 847 in California. Household income holds Cambria’s grade up ($99,147, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cambria could be anywhere from C− to B.
Time on the road from Cambria: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cambria workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,703 commuters (the 23% 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.
Where in the region Cambria works
About 35% 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.
Inside Cambria’s 1,551 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cambria, 2013 → 2023: 1,397 → 1,551. 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 Cambria’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Cambria, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,220 residents head out to work, 653 work right here, and 898 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 (0.83 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.
7% of working residents work in San Luis Obispo
Where Cambria clocks in
7% 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.
Cambria 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, Cambria is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #263 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Cambria 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 2,206 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 61% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 15% 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). 1.9% of Cambria households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Cambria’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Cambria is 2,554th of 3,394 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,552 | Wayne Township IN | 7,915 | $59K | 15.0% | 4.0% | 39% | C |
| 2,553 | Dover-Foxcroft ME | 4,463 | $63K | 15.1% | 2.7% | 35% | C |
| 2,554 | Cambria CA | 5,978 | $99K | 10.5% | 8.3% | 35% | C |
| 2,555 | Utqiaġvik AK | 4,640 | $115K | 11.0% | 9.0% | — | C |
| 2,556 | Cornelia GA | 5,459 | $40K | 30.3% | 2.2% | 14% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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 Cambria, 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 Cambria: questions
What is the median household income in Cambria?
$99,147 (±$12,007) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cambria?
10.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cambria?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cambria work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Luis Obispo (7%, 31 mi), Los Angeles (4%, 185 mi), El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) (3%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cambria walkable?
Cambria is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cambria without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 15% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cambria, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cambria
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.