Freedom has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
332 jobs are based in Freedom, against 1,535 working residents. Jobs and income earn Freedom A−; getting around on foot earns it A. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Freedom at work: what stands out
Freedom and Watsonville trade workers both ways
Watsonville is the top workplace for Freedom residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Freedom come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Freedom is a place people come home to
There are 332 jobs based in Freedom, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Freedom has about 2,000 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. 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.
What’s behind Freedom’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Freedom is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #189 of 847 in California. Unemployment is its strongest input (2.5%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Freedom could be anywhere from C to A+.
19% of working residents work in Watsonville
Where Freedom clocks in
19% of workers
10% of workers
7% 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.
How many people are in Freedom by day
On a workday 1,517 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 314 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Freedom on a workday afternoon, 38% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Freedom’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Freedom, 2013 → 2023: 216 → 332. 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 Freedom’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Freedom’s commute takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Freedom workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,227 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.
How far Freedom’s workers travel
About 18% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Freedom
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Freedom is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #297 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.9% 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 1,297 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 74% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 81% 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). 3.5% of Freedom households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Freedom’s commuters take a bus or train.
877th of 4,698: where Freedom ranks among U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 92 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 875 | Centerville PA | 3,223 | $71K | 4.5% | 1.1% | 3% | A− |
| 876 | Hanover Township OH | 3,226 | $104K | 5.4% | 3.1% | 3% | A− |
| 877 | Freedom CA | 3,172 | $94K | 7.3% | 2.5% | 1% | A− |
| 878 | Lewisville WA | 2,465 | $126K | 3.3% | 3.8% | 1% | A− |
| 879 | Empire Township IL | 3,960 | $88K | 4.2% | 2.8% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Freedom, the top three, the last and three more from California.
19% of Freedom works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Freedom workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freedom | – | A− | A | 31 min | $93,750 |
| Watsonville | 19% | C | A | 26 min | $78,393 |
| Aptos Hills-Larkin Valley | under 2% | A | C | 28 min | $158,788 |
| Amesti | under 2% | B− | C+ | 39 min | $108,833 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Watsonville. Darker towns draw more of Freedom’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Freedom: questions
What is the median household income in Freedom?
$93,750 (±$41,363) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Freedom?
7.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Freedom?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Freedom work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Watsonville (19%, 2 mi), Santa Cruz (10%, 14 mi), San Jose (7%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Freedom walkable?
Freedom is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Freedom without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 74% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Freedom, from the people who make the trip.
More of Freedom
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.