Household incomes put Kentfield near the very top of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Kentfield is among the highest-earning towns in the country. 3.9% of residents live below the poverty line; California has 12.0%. For jobs and income Kentfield is better than 88% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (A+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Kentfield in brief
Home offices are common in Kentfield
47% of Kentfield workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
79% of Kentfield’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, and so do 83% of the jobs based in Kentfield. The jobs ↓
Kentfield is where the jobs are
Kentfield has 3,938 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Nearly all the work in Kentfield is services
92% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 2% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
One in three of Kentfield works in San Francisco
750 working residents, 33%, have their main job in San Francisco, 13 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Kentfield itself. The commute map ↓
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.
How Kentfield earns its Jobs & income grade
Household income holds Kentfield’s grade up ($249,896, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, 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, Kentfield could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
About 25 minutes each way for Kentfield’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kentfield workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,607 commuters (the 47% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Kentfield
3,938 jobs are based in Kentfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kentfield, 2013 → 2023: 3,503 → 3,938. 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 Kentfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Kentfield
On a workday 2,169 residents head out to work, 124 work right here, and 3,814 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Kentfield on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Where the people who work in Kentfield live
Where Kentfield clocks in
7% 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.
Where in the region Kentfield works
About 15% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Kentfield
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,005 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 30% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 5.9% of Kentfield households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Kentfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kentfield is 490th of 3,229 U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,300 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 488 | Chester NH | 5,322 | $142K | 4.0% | 2.9% | 5% | A |
| 489 | Odessa MO | 5,721 | $100K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 13% | A |
| 490 | Kentfield CA | 6,900 | $250K | 3.9% | 4.9% | 5% | A |
| 491 | Bolton MA | 6,477 | $205K | 2.9% | 5.5% | 4% | A |
| 492 | Chisago Lake Township MN | 4,958 | $133K | 3.9% | 3.5% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,229 | 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 Kentfield, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns next door employ 12% of Kentfield
The biggest share goes to San Rafael (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kentfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kentfield | – | A | A+ | 25 min | $249,896 |
| Larkspur | 3% | A− | A+ | 28 min | $140,417 |
| Ross | under 2% | A+ | A+ | 26 min | $250,000+ |
| San Rafael | 7% | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $119,435 |
| Mill Valley | 2% | B+ | A+ | 25 min | $206,212 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kentfield’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 Kentfield: questions
What is the median household income in Kentfield?
$249,896 (±$24,802) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kentfield?
3.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kentfield?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 46% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kentfield work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (33%, 13 mi), San Rafael (7%, 4 mi), Larkspur (3%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kentfield walkable?
Kentfield is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kentfield without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 30% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kentfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kentfield
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.