Photo: Ellin Beltz · CC BY-SA 3.0Ferndale has lower household incomes than 69% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Ferndale itself; outside it, Eureka draws the most (19%, 16 miles). Poverty touches 13.0% of residents; California has 12.0%. Jobs and income earn Ferndale C−; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Ferndale
The better-paid jobs are outside Ferndale
58% of Ferndale residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 38% of the jobs based in Ferndale pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 86% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Ferndale pay little
26% of the jobs based in Ferndale pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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; with 330 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Ferndale’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Ferndale is better than 18% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Ferndale’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (6.1%) is left out: Ferndale’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ferndale could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Jobs in Ferndale: what the 365 are
365 jobs are based in Ferndale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ferndale, 2013 → 2023: 422 → 365. 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 Ferndale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Ferndale on a workday
On a workday 285 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 320 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 (1.11 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.
The towns that employ Ferndale’s residents
Where Ferndale clocks in
19% of workers
11% 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.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Ferndale
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ferndale workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 545 commuters (the 16% 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 Ferndale commutes less than 15 miles
About 22% 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 Ferndale, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ferndale is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 649 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 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 10.2% of Ferndale households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ferndale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800, Ferndale comes 3,801st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Castle Hill CA | 1,026 | $250K | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 19 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,799 | Elk Township MI | 1,498 | $62K | 11.2% | 7.1% | 3% | C− |
| 3,800 | Van Etten NY | 1,482 | $62K | 12.5% | 3.6% | 5% | C− |
| 3,801 | Ferndale CA | 1,348 | $63K | 13.0% | 6.1% | 14% | C− |
| 3,802 | Mill Hall PA | 1,456 | $54K | 16.1% | 2.5% | 2% | C− |
| 3,803 | Waitsburg WA | 1,184 | $68K | 12.4% | 5.5% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Ferndale, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Ferndale: questions
What is the median household income in Ferndale?
$63,142 (±$14,048) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ferndale?
13.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ferndale?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ferndale work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eureka (19%, 16 mi), Fortuna (11%, 6 mi), Arcata (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ferndale walkable?
Ferndale is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ferndale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ferndale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ferndale
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.