Photo: FredBren · Public domainEarlimart has some of the highest unemployment in the country: 24.9%
The two grades for Earlimart are D for jobs and income and D for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns. 2% of workers have no commute at all, next to 17% for California as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Earlimart stands out on work
Fewer jobs are based in Earlimart than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Earlimart fell from 800 in 2013 to 457 in 2023, −43%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Few Earlimart workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
41% 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 ↓
A young workforce
33% of Earlimart’s working residents are 29 or younger, about one in three. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Earlimart workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Earlimart’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Earlimart
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Earlimart is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #816 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Earlimart’s grade up (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Earlimart could be anywhere from D− to D.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Earlimart
457 jobs are based in Earlimart.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Earlimart, 2013 → 2023: 800 → 457. 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 Earlimart’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Earlimart spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Earlimart workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,222 commuters (the 2% 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.
Half of Earlimart commutes less than 37 miles
About 41% 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.
Who works in Earlimart, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,307 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 390 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Earlimart on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.33 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Delano
Where Earlimart clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Most trips from Earlimart start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Earlimart is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns, #824 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Earlimart 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 2,260 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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). 5.3% of Earlimart households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Earlimart’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Earlimart compares with U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,117 | Torrington WY | 6,205 | $48K | 18.8% | 7.2% | 56% | D |
| 3,118 | Stockton Township IN | 8,254 | $47K | 16.5% | 9.7% | 23% | D |
| 3,119 | Earlimart CA | 7,214 | $53K | 21.8% | 24.9% | 5% | D |
| 3,120 | Yreka CA | 7,714 | $44K | 17.0% | 7.5% | 53% | D− |
| 3,121 | Perry FL | 7,330 | $41K | 18.9% | 6.4% | 29% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,205 | 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 Earlimart, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How Earlimart compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Earlimart’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 Earlimart: questions
What is the median household income in Earlimart?
$52,881 (±$6,824) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Earlimart?
21.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Earlimart?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Earlimart work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Delano (12%, 9 mi), Bakersfield (7%, 39 mi), Fresno (6%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Earlimart walkable?
Earlimart is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Earlimart without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Earlimart, from the people who make the trip.
More of Earlimart
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.