Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Hawthorne has higher unemployment (7.9%) than 88% of U.S. towns
Only 6% stay in Hawthorne for work; outside it, Los Angeles is the main destination (33%, 8 miles). Jobs and income earn Hawthorne B−; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Hawthorne apart
A lot of Hawthorne works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders Hawthorne: Los Angeles (33%), El Segundo (5%) and Inglewood (3%). Next door ↓
Hawthorne makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Hawthorne are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Hawthorne residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 11%. The jobs ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Hawthorne’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hawthorne is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #534 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Hawthorne’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, Hawthorne could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Goods, not services: 35% of the jobs in Hawthorne
27,964 jobs are based in Hawthorne.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hawthorne, 2013 → 2023: 22,135 → 27,964. 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 Hawthorne’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Hawthorne
On a workday 34,339 residents head out to work, 2,055 work right here, and 25,909 people come in from elsewhere.
About 74,000 people are in Hawthorne on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.77 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.
Where Hawthorne goes to work
Where Hawthorne clocks in
5% 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.
About 28 minutes to work from Hawthorne
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hawthorne workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 36,551 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.
Where in the region Hawthorne works
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: Hawthorne
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hawthorne is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #138 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Hawthorne 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 41,114 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, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 8.4% of Hawthorne households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Hawthorne’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 555 U.S. towns of 58,000 to 112,000, Hawthorne comes 399th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 397 | Brockton MA | 106,134 | $80K | 13.5% | 8.6% | 21% | B− |
| 398 | Spokane Valley WA | 108,405 | $74K | 12.9% | 5.2% | 30% | B− |
| 399 | Hawthorne CA | 82,741 | $76K | 15.5% | 7.9% | 6% | B− |
| 400 | Flagstaff AZ | 77,260 | $72K | 18.2% | 5.7% | 62% | B− |
| 401 | Rock Hill SC | 75,911 | $69K | 12.6% | 5.8% | 29% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 555 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Hawthorne, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 41% of Hawthorne
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hawthorne workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawthorne | – | B− | A | 28 min | $75,848 |
| Del Aire | under 2% | A | A | 25 min | $141,533 |
| Lennox | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 29 min | $57,759 |
| Inglewood | 3% | C+ | A+ | 31 min | $72,750 |
| Lawndale | under 2% | B− | A+ | 25 min | $85,441 |
| West Athens | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 26 min | $67,201 |
| Alondra Park | under 2% | B | A+ | 27 min | $87,169 |
| El Segundo | 5% | A | A+ | 24 min | $150,737 |
| Los Angeles | 33% | B− | A+ | 31 min | $81,939 |
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 Hawthorne’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 Hawthorne: questions
What is the median household income in Hawthorne?
$75,848 (±$3,097) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hawthorne?
15.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hawthorne?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hawthorne work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (33%, 8 mi), Torrance (5%, 6 mi), El Segundo (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hawthorne walkable?
Hawthorne is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hawthorne without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hawthorne, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hawthorne
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.