Photo: BrendelSignature · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Hollister earn more than those in 85% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 7.6 in San Jose. 7.9% of residents are in poverty (California 12.0%). Jobs and income earn Hollister B; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hollister, in a few figures
Hollister’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hollister is San Jose, 38 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (1,333) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Hollister workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical 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.
Why Hollister gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hollister is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #437 of 847 in California. Household income holds Hollister’s grade up ($111,834, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hollister could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Miles to work from Hollister
About 23% 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.
Getting to work from Hollister takes about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hollister workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,606 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.
How a workday changes Hollister
On a workday 12,117 residents head out to work, 3,795 work right here, and 5,913 people come in from elsewhere.
About 39,000 people are in Hollister on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
8% of working residents work in San Jose
Where Hollister clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
The 9,708 jobs based in Hollister
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hollister, 2013 → 2023: 8,069 → 9,708. 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 Hollister’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Hollister
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hollister is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #401 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.5% 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 20,425 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 85% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 48% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 3.2% of Hollister households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Hollister’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hollister next to U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000: 611th of 969 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 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 609 | Haverstraw NY | 40,462 | $89K | 14.4% | 5.7% | 10% | B |
| 610 | Berwyn IL | 55,001 | $78K | 10.9% | 6.9% | 5% | B |
| 611 | Hollister CA | 45,695 | $112K | 7.9% | 5.6% | 24% | B |
| 612 | Blacksburg VA | 45,104 | $50K | 42.7% | 3.1% | 47% | B |
| 613 | Miami Township OH | 52,991 | $80K | 11.5% | 5.2% | 15% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | 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 Hollister, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work in the towns next to Hollister
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Hollister’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 Hollister: questions
What is the median household income in Hollister?
$111,834 (±$6,799) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hollister?
7.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hollister?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hollister work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Jose (8%, 38 mi), Gilroy (6%, 15 mi), Salinas (6%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hollister walkable?
Hollister is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hollister without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 48% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hollister, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hollister
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.