US Post Office-El Centro Main · Photo: Cbl62 · CC BY-SA 3.0El Centro has higher unemployment (9.9%) than 94% of U.S. towns
6% of workers have no commute at all, next to 17% for California as a whole. Jobs and income earn El Centro D; getting around on foot earns it A−. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set El Centro apart
Commutes from El Centro are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 54 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
33% 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 ↓
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.
Why El Centro gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, El Centro is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #768 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds El Centro’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, El Centro could be anywhere from D to C−.
The trip to work from El Centro: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Centro workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,174 commuters (the 6% 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 distance from El Centro to work
About 33% 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 and out of El Centro on a workday
On a workday 11,794 residents head out to work, 6,070 work right here, and 12,666 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 (1.05 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.
7% of working residents work in Calexico
Where El Centro clocks in
7% of workers
5% 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.
The 18,736 jobs based in El Centro
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Centro, 2013 → 2023: 16,804 → 18,736. 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 El Centro’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: El Centro
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, El Centro is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #473 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 16,119 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 56% 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 41% 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). 5.8% of El Centro households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of El Centro’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 31,000 to 60,000, and where El Centro sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 974 | Fort Pierce FL | 51,737 | $47K | 26.2% | 9.2% | 24% | D |
| 975 | Goldsboro NC | 35,012 | $49K | 22.8% | 8.0% | 30% | D |
| 976 | El Centro CA | 44,382 | $53K | 21.6% | 9.9% | 34% | D |
| 977 | Lima OH | 34,695 | $46K | 23.9% | 8.5% | 27% | D |
| 978 | Warren OH | 38,328 | $38K | 31.9% | 9.4% | 18% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,000 | 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 El Centro, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How El Centro compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Imperial (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of El Centro’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 El Centro: questions
What is the median household income in El Centro?
$53,082 (±$5,563) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Centro?
21.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Centro?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in El Centro work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Calexico (7%, 8 mi), Imperial (5%, 4 mi), Brawley (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Centro walkable?
El Centro is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Centro without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from El Centro, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Centro
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.