Photo: shadowhound · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Lake Arrowhead top those of 73% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Lake Arrowhead for work; outside it, Los Angeles is the main destination (7%, 72 miles). Poverty touches 11.1% of residents, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. The two grades for Lake Arrowhead are B− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Lake Arrowhead: the gist
Lake Arrowhead trades workers with the towns around it
Lake Arrowhead has about as many jobs (2,788) as working residents (3,145), but they are mostly different people: 2,625 residents leave for work each day while 2,268 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Lake Arrowhead are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Lake Arrowhead’s commute
The biggest draw, Los Angeles, gets only 7% of working residents, and 58% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Lake Arrowhead residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Lake Arrowhead workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% 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 ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Lake Arrowhead: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lake Arrowhead is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #505 of 847 in California. Household income holds Lake Arrowhead’s grade up ($95,236, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 27% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Arrowhead could be anywhere from C to B+.
In and out of Lake Arrowhead on a workday
On a workday 2,625 residents head out to work, 520 work right here, and 2,268 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).
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 Lake Arrowhead goes to work
Where Lake Arrowhead clocks in
6% 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.
About 37 minutes each way for Lake Arrowhead’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Arrowhead workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,619 commuters (the 21% 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.
The commute from Lake Arrowhead, by distance
About 37% 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.
Inside Lake Arrowhead’s 2,788 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Arrowhead, 2013 → 2023: 2,652 → 2,788. 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 Lake Arrowhead’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Lake Arrowhead, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Arrowhead is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #655 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 4,585 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 24% 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 3.2% of Lake Arrowhead households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Arrowhead’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lake Arrowhead ranks: 1,710th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,708 | Irmo SC | 12,204 | $80K | 9.2% | 8.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,709 | North Elba NY | 7,768 | $73K | 9.5% | 1.7% | 51% | B− |
| 1,710 | Lake Arrowhead CA | 10,639 | $95K | 11.1% | 3.9% | 17% | B− |
| 1,711 | Waseca MN | 9,035 | $64K | 9.5% | 2.8% | 34% | B− |
| 1,712 | Cedar Creek Township IN | 13,514 | $87K | 9.5% | 6.1% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Lake Arrowhead, the top three, the last and three more from California.
The towns around Lake Arrowhead
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lake Arrowhead workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Arrowhead | – | B− | B | 37 min | $95,236 |
| Crestline | under 2% | C+ | A− | 37 min | $77,786 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lake Arrowhead’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 Lake Arrowhead: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Arrowhead?
$95,236 (±$10,016) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Arrowhead?
11.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Arrowhead?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Arrowhead work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (7%, 72 mi), San Bernardino (6%, 10 mi), Riverside (3%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lake Arrowhead walkable?
Lake Arrowhead is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Arrowhead without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Arrowhead, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Arrowhead
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.