Photo: Jengod · CC BY-SA 4.0Gardena has higher unemployment (6.1%) than 75% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Gardena B; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. Only 6% work in Gardena itself; outside it, Los Angeles draws the most (31%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Gardena in brief
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Gardena
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gardena is better than 60% of U.S. towns, #403 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Gardena’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gardena could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Who works in Gardena, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 24,344 residents head out to work, 1,551 work right here, and 18,662 people come in from elsewhere.
About 53,000 people are in Gardena on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 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.
The towns that employ Gardena’s residents
Where Gardena clocks in
8% 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.
What the 20,213 jobs in Gardena are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gardena, 2013 → 2023: 22,615 → 20,213. 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 Gardena’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Gardena spends getting to work: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gardena workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,130 commuters (the 10% 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.
Half of Gardena commutes less than 10 miles
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Gardena
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gardena is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #175 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.6% 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 28,932 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 87% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 27% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 5.2% of Gardena households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Gardena’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gardena next to U.S. towns of 41,000 to 79,000: 443rd of 749 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Keller TX | 46,078 | $175K | 3.4% | 2.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 441 | Princeton FL | 42,625 | $83K | 10.5% | 5.1% | 3% | B |
| 442 | Avon Township IL | 63,208 | $98K | 10.5% | 6.9% | 10% | B |
| 443 | Gardena CA | 58,460 | $85K | 11.8% | 6.1% | 6% | B |
| 444 | Corvallis OR | 61,499 | $65K | 24.3% | 8.4% | 46% | B |
| 445 | Cheyenne WY | 66,507 | $79K | 8.7% | 3.7% | 70% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 749 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Gardena, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Bordering towns draw 39% of Gardena’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gardena workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardena | – | B | A | 29 min | $84,803 |
| Los Angeles | 31% | B− | A+ | 31 min | $81,939 |
| Torrance | 8% | A− | A− | 27 min | $116,217 |
| Alondra Park | under 2% | B | A+ | 27 min | $87,169 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Los Angeles. Darker towns draw more of Gardena’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 Gardena: questions
What is the median household income in Gardena?
$84,803 (±$7,717) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gardena?
11.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gardena?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gardena work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (31%, 10 mi), Torrance (8%, 5 mi), El Segundo (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gardena walkable?
Gardena is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gardena without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 27% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gardena, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gardena
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.