Photo: University of California, Berkeley - College of Environmental Design · Public domainFew U.S. towns have household incomes as high as Kensington’s
Measured by household income, Kensington is among the highest-earning towns in the country. 3.6% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. For jobs and income Kensington is better than 84% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Kensington, in a few figures
A lot of Kensington works from home
54% of Kensington workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Kensington has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Kensington went from 494 in 2013 to 719 in 2023, +46%. The jobs ↓
Three in four Kensington workers earn over $40,000 a year
78% of Kensington’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs based in Kensington itself pay less: 60% are in that band. The jobs ↓
Kensington empties out on a workday
About 3,500 people are in Kensington on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than the 5,200 who live here: 2,300 head out to work and 650 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How Kensington earns its Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Kensington’s grade up ($237,130, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (7.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kensington could be anywhere from A− to A+.
A commute of about 33 minutes in Kensington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kensington workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,167 commuters (the 54% 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.
Most jobs in Kensington are in services
719 jobs are based in Kensington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kensington, 2013 → 2023: 494 → 719. 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 Kensington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Kensington on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,281 residents head out to work, 69 work right here, and 650 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Kensington on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.31 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.
24% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Kensington clocks in
14% of workers
10% 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.
How far Kensington’s workers travel
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.
Kensington is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,538 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, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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 Kensington households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 15% of Kensington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kensington places 658th of 3,696 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 656 | Rochester MA | 5,956 | $120K | 5.4% | 3.2% | 9% | A− |
| 657 | Licking Township OH | 4,996 | $92K | 7.0% | 2.0% | 3% | A− |
| 658 | Kensington CA | 5,179 | $237K | 3.6% | 7.6% | 3% | A− |
| 659 | Prairie Heights WA | 4,998 | $131K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 1% | A− |
| 660 | Ballston Spa NY | 4,900 | $102K | 8.5% | 1.8% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | 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 Kensington, the top three, the last and three more from California.
16% of Kensington works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Berkeley (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kensington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington | – | A− | A+ | 33 min | $237,130 |
| El Cerrito | under 2% | A− | A+ | 33 min | $127,876 |
| Berkeley | 14% | A | A+ | 28 min | $108,092 |
| Richmond | 2% | B− | A+ | 34 min | $95,391 |
| Albany | under 2% | A | A+ | 31 min | $144,107 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kensington’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 Kensington: questions
What is the median household income in Kensington?
$237,130 (±$24,194) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kensington?
3.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kensington?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 54% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kensington work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (24%, 12 mi), Berkeley (14%, 3 mi), Oakland (10%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kensington walkable?
Kensington is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 25% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kensington without a car?
15% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kensington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kensington
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.