Photo: Etherealsmoke · CC BY-SA 4.0More people are out of work in Fresno (8.9%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 1.4 in Clovis. Fresno grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. More than half work in Fresno itself; outside it, Clovis draws the most (7%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Fresno: the gist
Most jobs in Fresno go to people who live here
Of the 232,942 jobs based in Fresno, 47% are held by Fresno residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Fresno are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 54 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.
Why Fresno gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fresno is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #634 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Fresno’s grade up (ahead of 84% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fresno stays C.
The daily flow of workers through Fresno
On a workday 85,633 residents head out to work, 109,397 work right here, and 123,545 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).
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 22 minutes each way for Fresno’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fresno workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 204,868 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.
The towns that employ Fresno’s residents
Where Fresno clocks in
7% of workers
1% of workers
1% 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.
Jobs in Fresno: what the 232,942 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fresno, 2013 → 2023: 190,372 → 232,942. 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 Fresno’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Fresno commutes
About 20% 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.
In Fresno, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fresno is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #343 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.5% 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 229,989 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 75% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 32% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 8.2% of Fresno households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Fresno’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
How Fresno ranks: 30th of 34 U.S. towns of 389,000 to 750,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brookhaven NY | 496,410 | $120K | 7.0% | 5.2% | 32% | A− |
| 2 | Virginia Beach VA | 453,737 | $93K | 8.6% | 4.0% | 47% | A− |
| 3 | Denver CO | 740,613 | $95K | 11.2% | 4.9% | 45% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Oakland CA | 440,838 | $102K | 13.4% | 6.4% | 26% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Long Beach CA | 450,469 | $87K | 14.8% | 6.5% | 21% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Sacramento CA | 536,449 | $87K | 13.9% | 6.6% | 39% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Tulsa OK | 416,209 | $60K | 18.7% | 6.1% | 61% | C |
| 29 | El Paso TX | 683,012 | $60K | 18.4% | 6.0% | 79% | C |
| 30 | Fresno CA | 555,549 | $71K | 20.1% | 8.9% | 56% | C |
| 31 | Milwaukee WI | 562,407 | $54K | 22.8% | 6.2% | 45% | C |
| 32 | Tucson AZ | 548,371 | $57K | 18.9% | 6.2% | 57% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Detroit MI | 649,095 | $40K | 32.7% | 14.0% | 31% | C− |
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 Fresno, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Fresno
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fresno workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresno | – | C | A− | 22 min | $70,991 |
| Calwa | under 1% | B | A+ | 26 min | $65,247 |
| Clovis | 7% | B+ | B+ | 24 min | $99,241 |
| Sunnyside | under 1% | B+ | A | 27 min | $114,135 |
| Tarpey Village | under 1% | C+ | B− | 20 min | $90,313 |
| West Park | under 1% | C | C− | 21 min | $60,625 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Clovis. Darker towns draw more of Fresno’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 Fresno: questions
What is the median household income in Fresno?
$70,991 (±$1,896) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fresno?
20.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fresno?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fresno work?
56% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clovis (7%, 7 mi), Madera (1%, 20 mi), Visalia (1%, 41 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fresno walkable?
Fresno is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fresno without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 32% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fresno, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fresno
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.