Bidwell Mansion · Photo: Frank Schulenburg · CC BY-SA 4.0Earning a living in Chico
A typical one-way commute lasts 18 minutes, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. Chico grades C+ for jobs and income and A for walkability. More than half work in Chico; the top destination outside it is Oroville (5%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Chico: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Chico are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Chico go to people who live here
Of the 40,968 jobs based in Chico, 48% are held by Chico residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. 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.
Jobs & income in Chico: the grade in detail
On family income, poverty and job access, Chico is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #563 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Chico’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.0%, U.S. 11.9%). It also does well on family income.
18% of Chico’s residents are college students, and off-campus students count in the Census poverty figures. Where students are 15% or more of the people the Census checks for poverty (16% here), the grade uses the rate without them: 17.0%, against 22.7% for all residents. Unemployment (6.8%) is left out here: students looking for part-time work count as unemployed. Income is ranked as median family income ($95,164), since student households pull the household median down ($66,977).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for family income and poverty, Chico could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
About 18 minutes to work from Chico
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chico workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 44,447 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.
The daily flow of workers through Chico
On a workday 17,070 residents head out to work, 19,626 work right here, and 21,342 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.
Out of Chico to work: where people go
Where Chico clocks in
5% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
Jobs in Chico: what the 40,968 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chico, 2013 → 2023: 37,440 → 40,968. 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 Chico’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Chico to work
About 25% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Chico
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chico is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #292 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Chico 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 51,372 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 4% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 7.1% of Chico households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Chico’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Chico next to U.S. towns of 74,000 to 142,000: 310th of 409 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 21 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Livermore CA | 83,457 | $161K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 308 | Hampton VA | 137,315 | $70K | 12.7% | 6.3% | 25% | C+ |
| 309 | East Los Angeles CA | 111,647 | $69K | 17.3% | 6.8% | 5% | C+ |
| 310 | Chico CA | 105,081 | $67K | 22.7% | 6.8% | 53% | C+ |
| 311 | Upper Darby Township PA | 85,458 | $71K | 14.4% | 8.9% | 7% | C+ |
| 312 | Duluth MN | 88,330 | $69K | 16.8% | 4.7% | 63% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Chico, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How Chico compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Durham (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Chico’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.
- Students. 18% of residents are college students; the poverty input leaves off-campus students out (above).
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Chico: questions
What is the median household income in Chico?
$66,977 (±$3,319) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chico?
22.7% of residents live below the poverty line; leaving out college students, 17.0%. California: 12.0%.
How long is the commute from Chico?
18 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chico work?
53% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oroville (5%, 23 mi), Sacramento (2%, 84 mi), Durham (2%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chico walkable?
Chico is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chico without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chico, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chico
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.