Hidden Meadows has some of the highest unemployment in the country: 15.8%
Only 2% work in Hidden Meadows; the top destination outside it is San Diego (28%, 27 miles). The two grades for Hidden Meadows are B for jobs and income and C for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Hidden Meadows in brief
Hidden Meadows is a place people come home to
There are 227 jobs based in Hidden Meadows, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Hidden Meadows has about 1,600 people in it, 55% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Hidden Meadows than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Hidden Meadows fell from 321 in 2013 to 227 in 2023, −29%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
28% of Hidden Meadows works in San Diego
602 working residents, 28%, have their main job in San Diego, 27 miles away. That’s 14 times as many as work in Hidden Meadows itself. The commute map ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Hidden Meadows: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hidden Meadows is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #399 of 847 in California. Household income holds Hidden Meadows’ grade up ($123,125, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hidden Meadows could be anywhere from C to A+.
Hidden Meadows quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,133 residents head out to work, 46 work right here, and 181 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Hidden Meadows on a workday afternoon, 55% fewer than live here.
0.10 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.
Jobs in Hidden Meadows: what the 227 are
227 jobs are based in Hidden Meadows.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hidden Meadows, 2013 → 2023: 321 → 227. 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 Hidden Meadows’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Hidden Meadows commutes to
Where Hidden Meadows clocks in
28% of workers
12% of workers
6% 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 33 minutes each way for Hidden Meadows’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hidden Meadows workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,065 commuters (the 20% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Hidden Meadows
About 19% 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.
Most of Hidden Meadows commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hidden Meadows is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns, #767 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Hidden Meadows 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 1,329 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.4% of Hidden Meadows households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hidden Meadows’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800, Hidden Meadows ranks 1,680th of 4,355 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,678 | Washington CT | 3,733 | $102K | 9.0% | 4.4% | 24% | B |
| 1,679 | Camargo Township IL | 3,507 | $77K | 6.1% | 3.2% | 12% | B |
| 1,680 | Hidden Meadows CA | 3,524 | $123K | 8.0% | 15.8% | 2% | B |
| 1,681 | Capitol Heights MD | 4,044 | $97K | 8.9% | 16.7% | <1% | B |
| 1,682 | Pecatonica Township IL | 4,115 | $81K | 4.6% | 5.7% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Hidden Meadows, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Hidden Meadows: questions
What is the median household income in Hidden Meadows?
$123,125 (±$49,789) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hidden Meadows?
8.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hidden Meadows?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hidden Meadows work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (28%, 27 mi), Escondido (12%, 7 mi), Carlsbad (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hidden Meadows walkable?
Hidden Meadows is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hidden Meadows without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hidden Meadows, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hidden Meadows
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.