Photo: Thomas Camargo · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Carpinteria are higher than in 77% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Carpinteria is better than 76% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (A). Poverty touches 7.0% of residents, where California as a whole has 12.0%. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 2.4 in Santa Maria.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Carpinteria, in brief
Carpinteria trades workers with the towns around it
Carpinteria has about as many jobs (5,940) as working residents (5,293), but they are mostly different people: 4,358 residents leave for work each day while 5,005 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in Carpinteria are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Carpinteria and Santa Barbara trade workers both ways
Santa Barbara is the top workplace for Carpinteria residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Carpinteria come from (11% of its jobs). 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.
Carpinteria’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Household income is its strongest input ($100,658, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, 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, Carpinteria could be anywhere from B− to A.
Who commutes out of Carpinteria, and who commutes in
On a workday 4,358 residents head out to work, 935 work right here, and 5,005 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 (1.12 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.
25% of working residents work in Santa Barbara
Where Carpinteria clocks in
25% of workers
6% 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.
In Carpinteria, 30% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
5,940 jobs are based in Carpinteria.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carpinteria, 2013 → 2023: 5,193 → 5,940. 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 Carpinteria’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Carpinteria
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carpinteria workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,060 commuters (the 16% 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.
Carpinteria’s commute, mile by mile
About 22% 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.
Carpinteria 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 6,051 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 37% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 49% 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). 2.1% of Carpinteria households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Carpinteria’s commuters take a bus or train.
Carpinteria next to U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000: 840th of 2,354 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 838 | Standish ME | 11,000 | $105K | 7.3% | 2.4% | 8% | A− |
| 839 | Maynard MA | 10,703 | $124K | 8.3% | 5.5% | 7% | A− |
| 840 | Carpinteria CA | 12,734 | $101K | 7.0% | 3.6% | 18% | A− |
| 841 | Archdale NC | 12,254 | $65K | 5.2% | 2.5% | 7% | A− |
| 842 | Plymouth CT | 11,902 | $95K | 8.5% | 3.7% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Carpinteria, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Carpinteria
The biggest share goes to Toro Canyon (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carpinteria workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carpinteria | – | A− | A | 25 min | $100,658 |
| Toro Canyon | 3% | A | B+ | 27 min | $140,743 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carpinteria’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 Carpinteria: questions
What is the median household income in Carpinteria?
$100,658 (±$12,413) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carpinteria?
7.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carpinteria?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carpinteria work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Barbara (25%, 12 mi), Goleta (6%, 20 mi), San Buenaventura (Ventura) (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carpinteria walkable?
Carpinteria is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carpinteria without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carpinteria, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carpinteria
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.