Pioneer Deep Space Station · Photo: NASA · Public domainUnemployment in Fort Irwin (12.3%) is higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 21% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #708 of 847 in California.
Walkability A: more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns · #174 of 847 in California.
Household incomes here are higher than in 51% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 9 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). About one in seven work in Fort Irwin; the top destination outside it is Los Angeles (7%, 130 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.3 in Riverside (EPA, 2020 schedules).
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 Fort Irwin
A big share show a job far from home
84% 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 ↓
Fort Irwin is where the jobs are
Fort Irwin has 2,297 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Fort Irwin are quick
The average trip to work takes 9 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 153 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. 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 993 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Fort Irwin’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fort Irwin is better than 21% of U.S. towns, #708 of 847 in California. The poverty rate holds Fort Irwin’s grade up (8.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (12.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fort Irwin could be anywhere from D to B.
Half of Fort Irwin commutes less than 121 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 84% 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.
Fort Irwin fills up on a workday
On a workday 865 residents head out to work, 128 work right here, and 2,169 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,700 people are in Fort Irwin on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 9 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Irwin workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,597 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Where Fort Irwin’s workers come from
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Fort Irwin clocks in
5% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
2,297 jobs are based in Fort Irwin. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fort Irwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Irwin, 2013 → 2023: 1,819 → 2,297. 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.
Fort Irwin is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fort Irwin is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #174 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Fort Irwin 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 4,943 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 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). 1.1% of Fort Irwin households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fort Irwin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fort Irwin is 2,545th of 2,981 U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,400 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Fort Irwin, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,543 | Stowe Township PA | 6,119 | $53K | 23.1% | 14.0% | 2% | C− |
| 2,544 | Cheviot OH | 8,623 | $53K | 22.6% | 8.5% | 2% | C− |
| 2,545 | Fort Irwin CA | 8,419 | $76K | 8.7% | 12.3% | 13% | C− |
| 2,546 | Orlovista FL | 6,890 | $47K | 20.0% | 11.7% | 1% | C− |
| 2,547 | Gunnison CO | 6,836 | $62K | 22.1% | 6.3% | 42% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,981 | 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.
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 Fort Irwin: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Irwin?
$76,107 (±$10,125) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Irwin?
8.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Irwin?
9 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Irwin work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (7%, 130 mi), San Diego (5%, 169 mi), Victorville (3%, 63 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fort Irwin walkable?
Fort Irwin is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fort Irwin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Irwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Irwin
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.