Felton Covered Bridge · Photo: W Nowicki · CC BY-SA 3.0Felton’s household incomes are higher than in 89% of U.S. towns
Only 5% stay in Felton for work; outside it, Santa Cruz is the main destination (15%, 5 miles). 3.6% of residents are in poverty, where California as a whole has 12.0%. The two grades for Felton are A− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Felton
Felton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Felton went from 686 in 2013 to 1,214 in 2023, +77%. The jobs ↓
Felton and Santa Cruz trade workers both ways
Santa Cruz is the top workplace for Felton residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Felton come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Felton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Felton is better than 84% of U.S. towns, #127 of 847 in California. Household income holds Felton’s grade up ($123,056, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Felton could be anywhere from B to A+.
The 1,214 jobs based in Felton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Felton, 2013 → 2023: 686 → 1,214. 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 Felton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Felton’s working residents head each day
Where Felton clocks in
15% of workers
11% 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.
How many people are in Felton by day
On a workday 1,619 residents head out to work, 83 work right here, and 1,131 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Felton on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
Getting to work from Felton takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Felton workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,649 commuters (the 24% 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.
Felton’s commute, mile by mile
About 18% 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 Felton, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Felton is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #683 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Felton 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 2,178 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 3.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 2.0% of Felton households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Felton’s commuters take a bus or train.
611th of 4,023: where Felton ranks among U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 609 | Rockland Township PA | 3,704 | $110K | 1.1% | 4.7% | 2% | A− |
| 610 | Nottingham Township PA | 3,065 | $124K | 2.0% | 5.1% | 2% | A− |
| 611 | Felton CA | 4,093 | $123K | 3.6% | 3.0% | 5% | A− |
| 612 | New Market Township MN | 3,574 | $130K | 2.3% | 6.4% | 4% | A− |
| 613 | Brown Township OH | 3,810 | $134K | 1.2% | 7.2% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,023 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Felton, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Felton
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Felton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Felton | – | A− | B− | 26 min | $123,056 |
| Ben Lomond | under 2% | B− | A− | 33 min | $130,041 |
| Bonny Doon | under 2% | C | A− | 40 min | $144,813 |
| Mount Hermon | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Mount Hermon: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Felton’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 Felton: questions
What is the median household income in Felton?
$123,056 (±$14,247) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Felton?
3.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Felton?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Felton work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Cruz (15%, 5 mi), San Jose (11%, 23 mi), Scotts Valley (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Felton walkable?
Felton is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Felton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Felton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Felton
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.