Photo: Fettlemap · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in El Rio (10.4%) than in 95% of U.S. towns
El Rio grades C for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 6% of workers have no commute at all (California 17%). Measured by household income, El Rio is behind 54% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in El Rio, in a few figures
El Rio makes and builds things
70% of the jobs based in El Rio are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs El Rio residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
El Rio and Oxnard trade workers both ways
Oxnard is the top workplace for El Rio residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in El Rio come from (29% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from El Rio are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
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 El Rio
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, El Rio is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #658 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds El Rio’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, El Rio could be anywhere from C− to B.
70% of the jobs in El Rio make or build things
2,908 jobs are based in El Rio.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in El Rio, 2013 → 2023: 2,314 → 2,908. 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 Rio’s own residents hold wherever they work.
19% of working residents work in Oxnard
Where El Rio clocks in
19% 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.
About 23 minutes each way for El Rio’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of El Rio workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,607 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.
How a workday changes El Rio
On a workday 3,397 residents head out to work, 104 work right here, and 2,804 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 (0.83 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 in the region El Rio works
About 29% 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.
The commute in El Rio is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, El Rio is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns, #702 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 2,771 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 92% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 47% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 3.3% of El Rio households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of El Rio’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,500 to 8,600, El Rio ranks 2,442nd of 3,255 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 68 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,440 | Breaux Bridge LA | 7,652 | $48K | 30.4% | 3.5% | 15% | C |
| 2,441 | Latimer MS | 6,756 | $70K | 16.1% | 6.4% | 2% | C |
| 2,442 | El Rio CA | 6,368 | $73K | 20.1% | 10.4% | 3% | C |
| 2,443 | Rainbow Springs FL | 6,082 | $57K | 9.3% | 3.5% | 2% | C |
| 2,444 | Canutillo TX | 5,962 | $41K | 34.0% | 3.5% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,255 | 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 El Rio, the top three, the last and three more from California.
19% of El Rio works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Oxnard. Darker towns draw more of El Rio’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 Rio: questions
What is the median household income in El Rio?
$72,598 (±$12,921) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in El Rio?
20.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from El Rio?
23 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 Rio work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oxnard (19%, 4 mi), Los Angeles (13%, 45 mi), San Buenaventura (Ventura) (11%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is El Rio walkable?
El Rio is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 12.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around El Rio without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 47% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from El Rio, from the people who make the trip.
More of El Rio
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.