Most of Lake Nacimiento commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Only 5% work in Lake Nacimiento; the top destination outside it is El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) (17%, 14 miles). 204 jobs are based in Lake Nacimiento for 1,157 working residents. For jobs and income Lake Nacimiento is better than 59% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (C−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lake Nacimiento
Lake Nacimiento workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 45 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 345 hours of commuting, 123 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Lake Nacimiento is a place people come home to
There are 204 jobs based in Lake Nacimiento, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Lake Nacimiento has about 2,400 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Lake Nacimiento and El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) trade workers both ways
El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) is the top workplace for Lake Nacimiento residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Lake Nacimiento come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Lake Nacimiento
The poverty rate holds Lake Nacimiento’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Nacimiento could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The trip to work from Lake Nacimiento: about 45 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Nacimiento workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,386 commuters (the 14% 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.
How many people are in Lake Nacimiento by day
On a workday 1,098 residents head out to work, 59 work right here, and 145 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Lake Nacimiento 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.
The towns that employ Lake Nacimiento’s residents
Where Lake Nacimiento clocks in
17% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Lake Nacimiento
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.
In Lake Nacimiento, 33% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Nacimiento, 2013 → 2023: 111 → 204. 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 Nacimiento’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Lake Nacimiento is a driving town
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 3.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,615 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.0% of Lake Nacimiento households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Lake Nacimiento’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lake Nacimiento is 1,792nd among 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,790 | Carlton Township MI | 2,429 | $83K | 8.7% | 3.9% | 1% | B |
| 1,791 | Hamlin Township MI | 3,238 | $92K | 1.9% | 10.0% | 2% | B |
| 1,792 | Lake Nacimiento CA | 3,339 | $92K | 3.5% | 3.7% | 5% | B |
| 1,793 | Galena IL | 3,210 | $59K | 6.4% | 1.6% | 40% | B |
| 1,794 | Binghamton NY | 4,435 | $105K | 8.2% | 6.4% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Nacimiento, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Nacimiento: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Nacimiento?
$91,615 (±$26,331) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Nacimiento?
3.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Nacimiento?
45 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Nacimiento work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles) (17%, 14 mi), San Luis Obispo (7%, 34 mi), Atascadero (7%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lake Nacimiento walkable?
Lake Nacimiento is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Nacimiento without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Nacimiento, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Nacimiento
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.