Photo: Bruce Fingerhood from Springfield, Oregon, US · CC BY 2.0At 7.5%, unemployment in Colton is higher than in 86% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 9% of workers, where California as a whole has 17%. The two grades for Colton are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.3 in Riverside.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Colton at work: what stands out
Colton trades workers with the towns around it
Colton has about as many jobs (24,233) as working residents (22,730), but they are mostly different people: 21,295 residents leave for work each day while 22,798 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Colton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Colton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Colton went from 13,467 in 2013 to 24,233 in 2023, +80%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Colton’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Colton is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #552 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Colton’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Colton could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Colton on a workday afternoon
On a workday 21,295 residents head out to work, 1,435 work right here, and 22,798 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 (1.07 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.
69% of the jobs in Colton pay over $3,333 a month
24,233 jobs are based in Colton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colton, 2013 → 2023: 13,467 → 24,233. 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 Colton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
13% of working residents work in San Bernardino
Where Colton clocks in
13% of workers
7% of workers
5% 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.
Commuting from Colton: about 28 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colton workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 22,541 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many miles Colton commutes
About 15% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Colton
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colton is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #455 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% 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 24,784 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 30% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 75% 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). 5.6% of Colton households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Colton’s commuters take a bus or train.
626th of 850: where Colton ranks among U.S. towns of 37,000 to 72,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Liberty Township OH | 40,625 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 624 | Montclair CA | 37,563 | $78K | 17.7% | 6.8% | 5% | C+ |
| 625 | Harrisonburg VA | 50,839 | $62K | 25.7% | 6.9% | 36% | C+ |
| 626 | Colton CA | 53,383 | $71K | 13.7% | 7.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 627 | La Crosse WI | 50,784 | $56K | 21.4% | 3.7% | 54% | C+ |
| 628 | Newark OH | 51,473 | $62K | 17.1% | 3.8% | 24% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 850 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Colton, the top three, the last and three more from California.
21% of Colton works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to San Bernardino (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Colton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colton | – | C+ | A− | 28 min | $71,208 |
| Grand Terrace | under 4% | B | B+ | 26 min | $83,628 |
| San Bernardino | 13% | C+ | A− | 30 min | $67,415 |
| Rialto | 4% | B− | A− | 32 min | $88,857 |
| Loma Linda | 4% | B− | A+ | 20 min | $82,353 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Colton’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 Colton: questions
What is the median household income in Colton?
$71,208 (±$2,603) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colton?
13.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colton?
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 Colton work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Bernardino (13%, 7 mi), Riverside (7%, 8 mi), Ontario (5%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Colton walkable?
Colton is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colton without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 30% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Colton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colton
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.