Photo: Alden Jewell · Public domainUnemployment in Fortuna (7.0%) is higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
Fortuna grades D for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. About one in four stay in Fortuna for work; outside it, Eureka is the main destination (26%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Fortuna
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fortuna is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #767 of 847 in California. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Fortuna’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fortuna could be anywhere from D to C.
Fortuna by day and by night
On a workday 3,359 residents head out to work, 1,050 work right here, and 1,829 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Fortuna on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.65 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.
Where Fortuna goes to work
Where Fortuna clocks in
26% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Fortuna
2,879 jobs are based in Fortuna.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fortuna, 2013 → 2023: 2,875 → 2,879. 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 Fortuna’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fortuna workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,634 commuters (the 11% 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.
How far Fortuna goes to work
About 17% 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.
Fortuna is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fortuna is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #114 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Fortuna 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 5,214 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, 9% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 59% 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). 5.6% of Fortuna households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Fortuna’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Fortuna sits among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 142 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,481 | Siler City NC | 8,155 | $47K | 33.9% | 4.7% | 17% | D |
| 2,482 | Jacksonville TX | 14,658 | $51K | 26.5% | 6.4% | 32% | D |
| 2,483 | Fortuna CA | 12,003 | $62K | 18.2% | 7.0% | 24% | D |
| 2,484 | Union City TN | 10,814 | $51K | 23.5% | 5.3% | 42% | D |
| 2,485 | Wasilla AK | 10,556 | $67K | 17.5% | 8.2% | — | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Fortuna, 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 Fortuna: questions
What is the median household income in Fortuna?
$62,289 (±$4,714) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fortuna?
18.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fortuna?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fortuna work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Eureka (26%, 15 mi), Arcata (6%, 19 mi), Scotia (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fortuna walkable?
Fortuna is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fortuna without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 9% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fortuna, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fortuna
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.