Photo: The Front Page Online · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Carson (7.8%) is higher than in 87% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income B+: better than 69% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #300 of 847 in California.
Walkability A: more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns · #327 of 847 in California.
Household incomes here are higher than in 83% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 28 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). Only 7% work in Carson; the top destination outside it is Los Angeles (25%, 15 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.5 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Carson, in brief
What’s behind Carson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carson is better than 69% of U.S. towns, #300 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Carson’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carson could be anywhere from B to A−.
25% of working residents work in Los Angeles
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Carson clocks in
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Carson fills up on a workday
On a workday 38,130 residents head out to work, 2,834 work right here, and 49,894 people come in from elsewhere.
About 103,000 people are in Carson on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 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.
What the 52,728 jobs in Carson are
52,728 jobs are based in Carson. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carson, 2013 → 2023: 47,896 → 52,728. 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.
About 28 minutes each way, about the CA average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carson workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 38,073 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Carson commutes less than 11 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Carson 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, Carson is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #327 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 41,704 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 4.6% of Carson households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Carson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Carson is 221st of 491 U.S. towns of 64,000 to 123,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Carson, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 219 | Alafaya FL | 92,449 | $101K | 9.3% | 4.9% | 6% | B+ |
| 220 | Bismarck ND | 77,963 | $78K | 9.3% | 2.5% | 69% | B+ |
| 221 | Carson CA | 90,808 | $109K | 8.7% | 7.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 222 | Downey CA | 108,468 | $91K | 9.0% | 5.8% | 9% | B+ |
| 223 | Malden MA | 66,370 | $101K | 11.4% | 5.4% | 7% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 491 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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.
33% of Carson works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Los Angeles (25%). Darker towns draw more of Carson’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carson | – | B+ | A | 28 min | $108,703 |
| Los Angeles | 25% | B− | A+ | 31 min | $81,939 |
| Compton | 1% | C+ | A | 31 min | $78,465 |
| Long Beach | 7% | B | A | 30 min | $87,430 |
| West Carson | under 2% | B+ | A− | 27 min | $92,775 |
| West Rancho Dominguez | under 2% | B− | A | 31 min | $86,834 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Carson: questions
What is the median household income in Carson?
$108,703 (±$4,237) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carson?
8.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carson?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carson work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (25%, 15 mi), Torrance (9%, 6 mi), Long Beach (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carson walkable?
Carson is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carson without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Carson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carson
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.