Household incomes in Hillcrest are lower than in 92% of U.S. towns
31.4% of residents live below the poverty line (California 12.0%). Hillcrest grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 6% of workers have no commute at all, next to 17% for California as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hillcrest at work: what stands out
Hillcrest and Bakersfield trade workers both ways
Bakersfield is the top workplace for Hillcrest residents (41%) and also where the most people who work in Hillcrest come from (50% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Hillcrest has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Hillcrest went from 782 in 2013 to 1,196 in 2023, +53%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Hillcrest 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Hillcrest gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hillcrest is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #756 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Hillcrest’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hillcrest could be anywhere from D to C.
41% of working residents work in Bakersfield
Where Hillcrest clocks in
41% 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.
The 1,196 jobs based in Hillcrest
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hillcrest, 2013 → 2023: 782 → 1,196. 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 Hillcrest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Hillcrest, about 22 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hillcrest workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,491 commuters (the 6% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Hillcrest
On a workday 3,289 residents head out to work, 70 work right here, and 1,126 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,300 people are in Hillcrest on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.36 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.
How far it is to work from Hillcrest
About 30% 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.
The commute in Hillcrest is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hillcrest is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #479 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 3,695 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, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 6.4% of Hillcrest households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Hillcrest’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hillcrest compares with U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,591 | Abbeville LA | 10,861 | $33K | 32.4% | 5.5% | 23% | C− |
| 2,592 | Highland Park MI | 8,248 | $29K | 40.9% | 18.7% | 1% | C− |
| 2,593 | Hillcrest CA | 10,511 | $46K | 31.4% | 8.7% | 2% | C− |
| 2,594 | Brattleboro VT | 11,872 | $58K | 17.8% | 7.2% | 52% | C− |
| 2,595 | Antigo WI | 8,060 | $46K | 19.5% | 4.5% | 40% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Hillcrest, the top three, the last and three more from California.
41% of Hillcrest works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hillcrest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillcrest | – | C− | B+ | 22 min | $46,285 |
| Bakersfield | 41% | C+ | B+ | 24 min | $80,540 |
| Bakersfield Country Club | under 1% | A− | B+ | 21 min | $102,266 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bakersfield. Darker towns draw more of Hillcrest’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 Hillcrest: questions
What is the median household income in Hillcrest?
$46,285 (±$9,032) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hillcrest?
31.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hillcrest?
22 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hillcrest work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bakersfield (41%, 5 mi), Los Angeles (4%, 99 mi), East Niles (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hillcrest walkable?
Hillcrest is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hillcrest without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hillcrest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hillcrest
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.