Photo: Gutterboi · CC BY-SA 4.0Hesperia has higher unemployment (9.3%) than 93% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Hesperia itself; outside it, Victorville draws the most (10%, 9 miles). Jobs and income earn Hesperia C−; getting around on foot earns it B. 9% of workers work from home; California has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hesperia, in a few figures
Hesperia workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 43 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 330 hours of commuting, 107 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Hesperia has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Hesperia went from 10,811 in 2013 to 15,752 in 2023, +46%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Hesperia
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hesperia is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #686 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Hesperia’s grade up (ahead of 55% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hesperia could be anywhere from C− to C.
The trip to work from Hesperia: about 43 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hesperia workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 34,069 commuters (the 9% 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.
What work there is in Hesperia: 15,752 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hesperia, 2013 → 2023: 10,811 → 15,752. 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 Hesperia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Hesperia quiets down on a workday
On a workday 32,250 residents head out to work, 4,316 work right here, and 11,436 people come in from elsewhere.
About 82,000 people are in Hesperia on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.43 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.
The towns that employ Hesperia’s residents
Where Hesperia clocks in
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 miles Hesperia commutes
About 29% 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.
Driving is how Hesperia gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hesperia is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #622 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 37,530 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 60% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% 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). 4.7% of Hesperia households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Hesperia’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Where Hesperia sits among U.S. towns of 72,000 to 139,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | South Jordan UT | 87,614 | $134K | 3.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 22 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Livermore CA | 83,457 | $161K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 390 | Beaumont TX | 112,967 | $57K | 21.2% | 6.4% | 45% | C− |
| 391 | Yakima WA | 97,458 | $63K | 16.6% | 8.4% | 49% | C− |
| 392 | Hesperia CA | 102,605 | $72K | 16.9% | 9.3% | 12% | C− |
| 393 | Allentown PA | 126,044 | $55K | 21.0% | 9.0% | 16% | C− |
| 394 | New Haven CT | 138,774 | $57K | 23.9% | 8.4% | 43% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 420 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Hesperia, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 14% of Hesperia
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hesperia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hesperia | – | C− | B | 43 min | $72,160 |
| Oak Hills | under 3% | B− | C+ | 52 min | $101,323 |
| Victorville | 10% | C− | B+ | 40 min | $74,410 |
| Apple Valley | 4% | C− | B | 41 min | $69,882 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Victorville. Darker towns draw more of Hesperia’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 Hesperia: questions
What is the median household income in Hesperia?
$72,160 (±$4,601) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hesperia?
16.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hesperia?
43 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hesperia work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Victorville (10%, 9 mi), San Bernardino (7%, 18 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hesperia walkable?
Hesperia is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hesperia without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hesperia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hesperia
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.