Emporium · Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Most of Jamestown commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Jamestown C+; getting around on foot earns it A. Jamestown has 532 jobs, against 1,580 working residents. Home is the office for 8% of workers, where California as a whole has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Jamestown apart
A big share show a job far from home
46% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Jamestown are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Jamestown empties out on a workday
About 2,200 people are in Jamestown on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than the 3,300 who live here: 1,500 head out to work and 480 come in. Day and night ↓
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.
The figures behind Jamestown’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jamestown is better than 36% of U.S. towns, #608 of 847 in California. The poverty rate holds Jamestown’s grade up (6.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jamestown could be anywhere from D to B+.
Near or far: the trip to work from Jamestown
About 46% 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.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Jamestown
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jamestown workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,151 commuters (the 8% 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 many people are in Jamestown by day
On a workday 1,526 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 478 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Jamestown on a workday afternoon, 32% 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.
12% of working residents work in Sonora
Where Jamestown clocks in
12% of workers
3% 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 kinds of work in Jamestown
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jamestown, 2013 → 2023: 457 → 532. 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 Jamestown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Jamestown
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jamestown is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns, #208 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Jamestown 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 1,245 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 58% 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). 3.6% of Jamestown households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jamestown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,453 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400, Jamestown comes 2,869th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,867 | Oakland Township PA | 2,707 | $74K | 11.6% | 6.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,868 | Saltlick Township PA | 2,908 | $72K | 6.5% | 11.1% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,869 | Jamestown CA | 3,265 | $57K | 6.1% | 4.3% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,870 | Pipestone MN | 4,100 | $68K | 13.1% | 3.0% | 46% | C+ |
| 2,871 | Spencer NC | 3,450 | $65K | 11.2% | 7.1% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Jamestown, the top three, the last and three more from California.
12% of Jamestown works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Sonora. Darker towns draw more of Jamestown’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 Jamestown: questions
What is the median household income in Jamestown?
$57,276 (±$12,253) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jamestown?
6.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jamestown?
20 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jamestown work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sonora (12%, 2 mi), East Sonora (4%, 4 mi), Sacramento (3%, 71 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jamestown walkable?
Jamestown is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jamestown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jamestown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jamestown
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.