Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as Lake Isabella’s
The two grades for Lake Isabella are D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Poverty touches 40.7% of residents, against 12.0% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Lake Isabella apart
Lake Isabella’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lake Isabella is Bakersfield, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (114) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 Lake Isabella are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 968 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Lake Isabella earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Lake Isabella is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #847 of 847 in California. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Lake Isabella’s grade.
Unemployment (8.6%) is left out: Lake Isabella’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Lake Isabella stays D−.
Where in the region Lake Isabella works
About 39% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 19 minutes each way for Lake Isabella’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Isabella workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 711 commuters (the 11% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 783 residents head out to work, 185 work right here, and 679 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 2024, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Bakersfield
Where Lake Isabella clocks in
12% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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 864 jobs based in Lake Isabella
864 jobs are based in Lake Isabella.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Isabella, 2014 → 2024: 1,361 → 864. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lake Isabella’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Lake Isabella, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Isabella is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns, #718 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 796 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 70% 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 0.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 50% 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). 11.5% of Lake Isabella households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Isabella’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lake Isabella and other U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,281 | Lake Providence LA | 3,147 | $28K | 39.2% | 15.5% | 21% | D− |
| 4,282 | North Browning MT | 3,144 | $37K | 43.3% | 17.0% | 11% | D− |
| 4,283 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Isabella, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Lake Isabella
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lake Isabella workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Isabella | – | D− | C+ | 19 min | $26,661 |
| Bodfish | under 2% | D− | B− | 20 min | $39,863 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lake Isabella’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 2024, 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 Isabella: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Isabella?
$26,661 (±$2,997) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Isabella?
40.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Isabella?
19 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Isabella work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bakersfield (12%, 36 mi), Mountain Mesa (7%, 5 mi), Kernville (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lake Isabella walkable?
Lake Isabella is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 10.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Isabella without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Isabella, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Isabella
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.