Photo: JacobSA2019 · CC BY-SA 4.0Imperial has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
8% of workers work from home (California 17%). 4,486 jobs are based in Imperial, against 8,843 working residents. For jobs and income Imperial is better than 36% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Imperial: the gist
Commutes from Imperial are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Imperial and El Centro trade workers both ways
El Centro is the top workplace for Imperial residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Imperial come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Imperial has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Imperial went from 3,086 in 2013 to 4,486 in 2023, +45%. 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’s behind Imperial’s Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Imperial’s grade up ($90,195, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (8.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Imperial could be anywhere from C− to B.
Commuting from Imperial: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Imperial workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,462 commuters (the 7% 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.
27% of working residents work in El Centro
Where Imperial clocks in
27% of workers
7% of workers
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.
What Imperial’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Imperial, 2013 → 2023: 3,086 → 4,486. 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 Imperial’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Imperial
On a workday 7,739 residents head out to work, 1,104 work right here, and 3,382 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Imperial on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from Imperial
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.
In Imperial, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,065 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). 2.2% of Imperial households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Imperial’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,298th of 1,658: where Imperial ranks among U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 40 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 146 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | La Cañada Flintridge CA | 19,480 | $242K | 3.5% | 5.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,296 | Emporia KS | 24,137 | $53K | 17.8% | 2.0% | 60% | C+ |
| 1,297 | Gautier MS | 19,069 | $62K | 17.5% | 3.8% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,298 | Imperial CA | 22,330 | $90K | 12.5% | 8.2% | 12% | C+ |
| 1,299 | Palm Springs FL | 28,303 | $62K | 15.4% | 7.0% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,300 | Ashland OH | 18,730 | $60K | 16.6% | 3.8% | 40% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Imperial, the top three, the last and three more from California.
27% of Imperial works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to El Centro. Darker towns draw more of Imperial’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 Imperial: questions
What is the median household income in Imperial?
$90,195 (±$7,757) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Imperial?
12.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Imperial?
19 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Imperial work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are El Centro (27%, 4 mi), Brawley (7%, 10 mi), Calexico (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Imperial walkable?
Imperial is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Imperial 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 Imperial, from the people who make the trip.
More of Imperial
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.