Photo: GeorgeLouis at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Coalinga (11.4%) is higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 5.7 in Fresno. For jobs and income Coalinga is better than 10% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (A−). Home is the office for 7% of workers (California 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Coalinga, in a few figures
Commutes from Coalinga 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
40% 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 ↓
The jobs in Coalinga pay better than its residents’ jobs
76% of the jobs based in Coalinga pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 59% of the jobs Coalinga residents hold. 65% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Coalinga. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Coalinga is services
87% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Coalinga
Household income holds Coalinga’s grade up ($75,451, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Coalinga could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Commuting from Coalinga: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Coalinga workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,809 commuters (the 7% 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 Coalinga works
About 40% 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.
In Coalinga, services account for most jobs
5,493 jobs are based in Coalinga.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Coalinga, 2013 → 2023: 4,918 → 5,493. 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 Coalinga’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Coalinga, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,387 residents head out to work, 1,938 work right here, and 3,555 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 (1.03 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.
Where people from Coalinga work
Where Coalinga clocks in
7% of workers
3% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Coalinga
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% 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 5,161 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 57% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 8.4% of Coalinga households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Coalinga’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Coalinga sits among U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,918 | Coldwater MI | 14,216 | $51K | 21.3% | 8.3% | 35% | D |
| 1,919 | Albemarle NC | 17,769 | $47K | 24.9% | 5.6% | 24% | D |
| 1,920 | Coalinga CA | 17,281 | $75K | 21.7% | 11.4% | 36% | D |
| 1,921 | New Castle PA | 21,175 | $42K | 28.0% | 12.5% | 23% | D |
| 1,922 | Crossville TN | 13,113 | $49K | 22.9% | 7.2% | 48% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Coalinga, 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 Coalinga: questions
What is the median household income in Coalinga?
$75,451 (±$15,064) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Coalinga?
21.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Coalinga?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Coalinga work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (7%, 54 mi), Avenal (3%, 14 mi), Kerman (2%, 44 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Coalinga walkable?
Coalinga is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Coalinga without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Coalinga, from the people who make the trip.
More of Coalinga
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.