Household incomes in Forest Ranch are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
1.5% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. For jobs and income Forest Ranch is better than 72% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (D−). 5% of workers have no commute at all, against 17% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Forest Ranch, in brief
Forest Ranch and Chico trade workers both ways
Chico is the top workplace for Forest Ranch residents (32%) and also where the most people who work in Forest Ranch come from (45% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Forest Ranch is a place people come home to
There are 89 jobs based in Forest Ranch, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
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.
Inside Forest Ranch’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Forest Ranch’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 19% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Forest Ranch could be anywhere from C to A.
32% of working residents work in Chico
Where Forest Ranch clocks in
32% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Where in the region Forest Ranch works
About 40% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Forest Ranch
On a workday 317 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 76 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Forest Ranch on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
Goods jobs make up 44% of work in Forest Ranch
89 jobs are based in Forest Ranch.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Forest Ranch, 2013 → 2023: 52 → 89. 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 Forest Ranch’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Forest Ranch workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 933 commuters (the 5% 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.
Most of Forest Ranch commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 982 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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 Forest Ranch households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Forest Ranch’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,921 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600, Forest Ranch comes 1,130th on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Baywood Park CA | 1,580 | $217K | 2.8% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Irwindale CA | 1,439 | $114K | 4.3% | 6.5% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,128 | Bearfield Township OH | 1,478 | $106K | 8.1% | 0.0% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,129 | Letterkenny Township PA | 2,550 | $83K | 3.7% | 2.2% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,130 | Forest Ranch CA | 1,915 | $132K | 1.5% | 4.2% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,131 | Walla Walla East WA | 2,099 | $90K | 3.5% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,132 | Englishtown NJ | 2,407 | $91K | 10.9% | 3.7% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Forest Ranch, 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 Forest Ranch: questions
What is the median household income in Forest Ranch?
$131,650 (±$67,340) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Forest Ranch?
1.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Forest Ranch?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Forest Ranch work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chico (32%, 12 mi), Sacramento (5%, 92 mi), Durham (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Forest Ranch walkable?
Forest Ranch is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.2 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Forest 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 Forest Ranch, from the people who make the trip.
More of Forest 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.