La Cresta has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for La Cresta are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. La Cresta has 319 jobs; 2,785 of its residents have a job. Measured by household income, La Cresta is behind 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
La Cresta at work: what stands out
La Cresta and Bakersfield trade workers both ways
Bakersfield is the top workplace for La Cresta residents (42%) and also where the most people who work in La Cresta come from (45% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
La Cresta is a place people come home to
There are 319 jobs based in La Cresta, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday La Cresta has about 5,900 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few La Cresta workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from La Cresta are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside La Cresta
53% of La Cresta residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 34% of the jobs based in La Cresta pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. 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.
Where La Cresta’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, La Cresta is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #674 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds La Cresta’s grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($49,605, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, La Cresta could be anywhere from D to B.
42% of working residents work in Bakersfield
Where La Cresta clocks in
42% 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.
La Cresta on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,754 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 288 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,900 people are in La Cresta on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
About 23 minutes to work from La Cresta
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Cresta workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,036 commuters (the 4% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in La Cresta
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Cresta, 2013 → 2023: 330 → 319. 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 La Cresta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
La Cresta’s commute, mile by mile
About 32% 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.
La Cresta is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, La Cresta is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #348 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% 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 3,157 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, 52% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 79% 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). 9.8% of La Cresta households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of La Cresta’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,364th of 2,947: where La Cresta ranks among U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,300
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Belpre OH | 6,657 | $55K | 15.8% | 3.1% | 11% | C |
| 2,363 | Thetford Township MI | 6,482 | $74K | 15.2% | 10.0% | 2% | C |
| 2,364 | La Cresta CA | 8,389 | $50K | 20.3% | 5.8% | 1% | C |
| 2,365 | Panthersville GA | 9,053 | $52K | 19.6% | 9.3% | 2% | C |
| 2,366 | Fort Oglethorpe GA | 10,868 | $52K | 11.1% | 5.7% | 8% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,947 | 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 La Cresta, the top three, the last and three more from California.
42% of La Cresta works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | La Cresta workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Cresta | – | C | A− | 23 min | $49,605 |
| Bakersfield | 42% | C+ | B+ | 24 min | $80,540 |
| East Bakersfield | under 1% | D | A− | 24 min | $38,644 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bakersfield. Darker towns draw more of La Cresta’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 La Cresta: questions
What is the median household income in La Cresta?
$49,605 (±$9,526) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Cresta?
20.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Cresta?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Cresta work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bakersfield (42%, 4 mi), Los Angeles (4%, 101 mi), Oildale (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is La Cresta walkable?
La Cresta is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 14.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Cresta without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 52% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Cresta, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Cresta
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.