Fairbanks Ranch ranks among the highest-earning U.S. towns by household income
Measured by household income, Fairbanks Ranch is among the highest-earning towns in the country. 5.5% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.0% across California. The two grades for Fairbanks Ranch are A+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Fairbanks Ranch apart on work
Fairbanks Ranch and San Diego trade workers both ways
San Diego is the top workplace for Fairbanks Ranch residents (49%) and also where the most people who work in Fairbanks Ranch come from (40% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Fairbanks Ranch is services
94% 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 ↓
A lot of Fairbanks Ranch works from home
30% of Fairbanks Ranch workers work from home, against 17% across California. 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; with 911 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Fairbanks Ranch
On income, poverty and job access, Fairbanks Ranch is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #11 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Fairbanks Ranch’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
The Census reports Fairbanks Ranch’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Fairbanks Ranch could be anywhere from A to A+.
49% of working residents work in San Diego
Where Fairbanks Ranch clocks in
49% of workers
3% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
1,326 jobs are based in Fairbanks Ranch.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fairbanks Ranch, 2013 → 2023: 263 → 1,326. 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 Fairbanks Ranch’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Fairbanks Ranch: about 31 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fairbanks Ranch workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 687 commuters (the 30% 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.
A workday in Fairbanks Ranch: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 891 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 1,306 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Fairbanks Ranch on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 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.
Fairbanks Ranch’s commute, mile by mile
About 28% 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.
Getting around Fairbanks Ranch: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fairbanks Ranch is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns, #747 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 975 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 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 0.0% of Fairbanks Ranch households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fairbanks Ranch’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Fairbanks Ranch is 107th of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Meadow Glade WA | 2,281 | $129K | 2.4% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| 106 | West Amwell Township NJ | 3,037 | $151K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| 107 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 108 | New Britain PA | 2,799 | $125K | 4.6% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 109 | Richland Township KS | 2,161 | $119K | 0.6% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Rancho Santa Fe CA | 2,260 | $176K | 4.9% | 9.8% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Fairbanks Ranch, the top three, the last and three more from California.
49% of Fairbanks Ranch works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fairbanks Ranch workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fairbanks Ranch | – | A+ | C+ | 31 min | $250,000+ |
| Rancho Santa Fe | under 2% | A+ | B− | 32 min | $175,792 |
| San Diego | 49% | B+ | A | 24 min | $108,077 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to San Diego. Darker towns draw more of Fairbanks Ranch’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Fairbanks Ranch: questions
What is the median household income in Fairbanks Ranch?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fairbanks Ranch?
5.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fairbanks Ranch?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fairbanks Ranch work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (49%, 12 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 100 mi), Carlsbad (3%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fairbanks Ranch walkable?
Fairbanks Ranch is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fairbanks Ranch without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fairbanks Ranch, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fairbanks Ranch
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.