Firebaugh has lower household incomes than 90% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Firebaugh are D− for jobs and income and B for walkability. 36.6% of residents are in poverty, against 12.0% across California. 3% of workers have no commute at all (California 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Firebaugh stands out on work
Firebaugh’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Firebaugh is Fresno, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (412) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Firebaugh workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Firebaugh makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Firebaugh are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Firebaugh residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 38%. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Firebaugh
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Firebaugh is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #837 of 847 in California. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Firebaugh’s grade.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Firebaugh stays D−.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Firebaugh
About 26% 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.
About 26 minutes each way for Firebaugh’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Firebaugh workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,407 commuters (the 3% 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.
Goods, not services: 36% of the jobs in Firebaugh
1,443 jobs are based in Firebaugh.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Firebaugh, 2013 → 2023: 1,141 → 1,443. 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 Firebaugh’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Firebaugh, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,092 residents head out to work, 627 work right here, and 816 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,500 people are in Firebaugh on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.53 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.
15% of working residents work in Fresno
Where Firebaugh clocks in
15% of workers
4% 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.
In Firebaugh, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Firebaugh is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #654 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 2,492 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 93% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 38% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 9.0% of Firebaugh households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Firebaugh’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Firebaugh compares with U.S. towns of 6,100 to 11,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,920 | Roxboro NC | 8,380 | $37K | 33.3% | 13.5% | 18% | D− |
| 2,921 | Atmore AL | 8,360 | $39K | 25.0% | 18.2% | 22% | D− |
| 2,922 | Firebaugh CA | 8,774 | $48K | 36.6% | 18.7% | 23% | D− |
| 2,923 | Oakdale LA | 6,526 | $43K | 32.8% | 14.4% | 15% | D− |
| 2,924 | Helena-West Helena AR | 8,216 | $36K | 31.7% | 17.7% | 34% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,927 | 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 Firebaugh, 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 Firebaugh: questions
What is the median household income in Firebaugh?
$47,734 (±$3,941) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Firebaugh?
36.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Firebaugh?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Firebaugh work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (15%, 37 mi), Mendota (4%, 8 mi), Madera (3%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Firebaugh walkable?
Firebaugh is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 11.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Firebaugh without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 38% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Firebaugh, from the people who make the trip.
More of Firebaugh
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.