Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Lake Shastina (9.5%) than in 93% of U.S. towns
Only 4% work in Lake Shastina; the top destination outside it is Weed (18%, 8 miles). Lake Shastina grades C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Commuters spend 30 minutes getting to work on average; California averages 29, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Lake Shastina, in a few figures
Lake Shastina is a place people come home to
There are 99 jobs based in Lake Shastina, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 826 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Lake Shastina
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lake Shastina is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #738 of 847 in California. Household income holds Lake Shastina’s grade up ($80,542, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 3% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lake Shastina could be anywhere from D to B−.
The daily flow of workers through Lake Shastina
On a workday 796 residents head out to work, 30 work right here, and 69 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Lake Shastina on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.12 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 2024, primary jobs.
How far it is to work from Lake Shastina
About 33% 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.
The towns that employ Lake Shastina’s residents
Where Lake Shastina clocks in
18% of workers
14% 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.
Inside Lake Shastina’s 99 jobs
99 jobs are based in Lake Shastina.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lake Shastina, 2014 → 2024: 70 → 99. 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 Shastina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Lake Shastina: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lake Shastina workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 904 commuters (the 18% 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.
Driving is how Lake Shastina gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lake Shastina is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns, #712 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 1,105 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, 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). 1.7% of Lake Shastina households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lake Shastina’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lake Shastina is 3,917th of 4,771 U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,915 | Dannemora NY | 2,562 | $62K | 13.8% | 9.5% | 5% | C− |
| 3,916 | Kane PA | 3,463 | $52K | 9.7% | 5.7% | 29% | C− |
| 3,917 | Lake Shastina CA | 3,001 | $81K | 12.2% | 9.5% | 4% | C− |
| 3,918 | Quitman GA | 4,032 | $19K | 42.6% | 2.9% | 18% | C− |
| 3,919 | Athens PA | 3,205 | $53K | 12.8% | 9.4% | 8% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Shastina, 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 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 Shastina: questions
What is the median household income in Lake Shastina?
$80,542 (±$7,532) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lake Shastina?
12.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lake Shastina?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lake Shastina work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Weed (18%, 8 mi), Yreka (14%, 19 mi), Mount Shasta (11%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Lake Shastina walkable?
Lake Shastina is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lake Shastina without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lake Shastina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lake Shastina
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.