Lake Mathews has higher unemployment (12.7%) than 98% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Lake Mathews is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Lake Mathews B−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Only 1% work in Lake Mathews itself; outside it, Riverside draws the most (15%, 8 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Lake Mathews apart on work
Lake Mathews is a place people come home to
There are 371 jobs based in Lake Mathews, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lake Mathews has about 4,100 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Lake Mathews makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Lake Mathews are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Lake Mathews residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Lake Mathews workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Lake Mathews
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lake Mathews is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #466 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Lake Mathews’ grade up (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Mathews could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
In and out of Lake Mathews on a workday
On a workday 2,748 residents head out to work, 36 work right here, and 335 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Lake Mathews on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
0.13 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.
Goods jobs make up 52% of work in Lake Mathews
371 jobs are based in Lake Mathews.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Mathews, 2013 → 2023: 193 → 371. 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 Mathews’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Lake Mathews, about 35 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Mathews workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,877 commuters (the 12% 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.
Where Lake Mathews goes to work
Where Lake Mathews clocks in
15% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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 Lake Mathews’ workers travel
About 16% 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.
Lake Mathews is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Mathews is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #715 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 5.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,137 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 4% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 4% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 1.7% of Lake Mathews households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Mathews’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,800, Lake Mathews ranks 1,664th of 3,218 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,662 | Haverhill NH | 4,667 | $86K | 11.4% | 0.8% | 27% | B− |
| 1,663 | Wayne Township OH | 4,958 | $79K | 5.0% | 5.0% | 5% | B− |
| 1,664 | Lake Mathews CA | 6,527 | $94K | 8.1% | 12.7% | 1% | B− |
| 1,665 | Richland Township OH | 5,771 | $83K | 3.6% | 6.1% | 19% | B− |
| 1,666 | Wappingers Falls NY | 6,048 | $65K | 3.8% | 7.4% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,218 | 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 Mathews, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Lake Mathews and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lake Mathews workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Mathews | – | B− | B− | 35 min | $94,444 |
| Woodcrest | under 2% | A− | B− | 40 min | $153,731 |
| Mead Valley | under 2% | B− | B | 32 min | $86,795 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lake Mathews’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 Mathews: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Mathews?
$94,444 (±$19,126) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Mathews?
8.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Mathews?
35 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Mathews work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Riverside (15%, 8 mi), Corona (5%, 12 mi), Irvine (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lake Mathews walkable?
Lake Mathews is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Mathews without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 4% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Mathews, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Mathews
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.