Photo: Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning · Public domainMost of Charter Oak commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 4.4 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. 886 jobs are based in Charter Oak for 3,889 working residents. Charter Oak grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Charter Oak: the gist
Charter Oak’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Charter Oak is Los Angeles, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (494) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The quickest commute around
Charter Oak’s 27-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 31 to 33 minutes. Next door ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Charter Oak
65% of Charter Oak residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 42% of the jobs based in Charter Oak pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Charter Oak is a place people come home to
There are 886 jobs based in Charter Oak, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Charter Oak has about 6,400 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Where Charter Oak’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Charter Oak is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #363 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Charter Oak’s grade up (ahead of 97% of 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, Charter Oak could be anywhere from B− to A.
How many miles Charter Oak commutes
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.
Jobs in Charter Oak: what the 886 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Charter Oak, 2013 → 2023: 1,026 → 886. 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 Charter Oak’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Charter Oak on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,850 residents head out to work, 39 work right here, and 847 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,400 people are in Charter Oak on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
13% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Charter Oak clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
About 27 minutes to work from Charter Oak
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Charter Oak workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,099 commuters (the 13% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Charter Oak
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Charter Oak is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #267 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.8% 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 4,701 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 22% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.4 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). 3.9% of Charter Oak households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Charter Oak’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,806 U.S. towns of 6,600 to 12,700, Charter Oak comes 1,289th 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 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | Cross Lanes WV | 9,671 | $64K | 5.1% | 3.5% | 4% | B |
| 1,288 | Keansburg NJ | 9,818 | $81K | 10.7% | 4.5% | 7% | B |
| 1,289 | Charter Oak CA | 9,442 | $88K | 8.0% | 7.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,290 | Palmyra Township KS | 7,847 | $81K | 3.9% | 5.5% | 17% | B |
| 1,291 | Stillwater NY | 10,198 | $105K | 6.7% | 5.7% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,806 | 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 Charter Oak, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 12% of Charter Oak
The biggest share goes to Covina (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Charter Oak workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charter Oak | – | B | A | 27 min | $88,393 |
| Covina | 5% | B+ | A | 31 min | $98,671 |
| San Dimas | 3% | A− | B | 32 min | $105,321 |
| Glendora | 4% | A− | A | 33 min | $113,569 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Charter Oak’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 Charter Oak: questions
What is the median household income in Charter Oak?
$88,393 (±$7,529) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Charter Oak?
8.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Charter Oak?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Charter Oak work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (13%, 32 mi), Covina (5%, 2 mi), Glendora (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Charter Oak walkable?
Charter Oak is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.0 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Charter Oak without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 22% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Charter Oak, from the people who make the trip.
More of Charter Oak
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.