Laton has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
4% of workers work from home, next to 17% for California as a whole. Laton has 206 jobs for 524 working residents. For jobs and income Laton is better than 74% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Laton in brief
Laton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Laton is Fresno, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (71) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Laton workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Laton are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 524 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Laton’s grade
The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.5%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($77,647, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (3.8%) is left out: Laton’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Laton could be anywhere from B− to A.
Near or far: the trip to work from Laton
About 24% 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.
The trip to work from Laton: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Laton workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 634 commuters (the 4% 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 Laton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 508 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 190 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,100 people are in Laton on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
14% of working residents work in Fresno
Where Laton clocks in
14% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Laton: what the 206 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Laton, 2013 → 2023: 178 → 206. 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 Laton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Laton, walking beats the bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% 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 657 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 88% 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 Laton households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Laton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 2,000, Laton ranks 943rd of 6,308 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Castle Hill CA | 1,026 | $250K | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 22 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 941 | Eagleswood Township NJ | 1,851 | $102K | 7.5% | 4.6% | 4% | B+ |
| 942 | Cornwall VT | 1,290 | $115K | 0.8% | 7.4% | 1% | B+ |
| 943 | Laton CA | 1,453 | $78K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 3% | B+ |
| 944 | Juno Ridge FL | 1,072 | $133K | 16.0% | 0.0% | <1% | B+ |
| 945 | St. George MO | 1,458 | $68K | 7.5% | 1.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,308 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Laton, 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 Laton: questions
What is the median household income in Laton?
$77,647 (±$14,246) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Laton?
4.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Laton?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Laton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (14%, 25 mi), Hanford (6%, 8 mi), Visalia (5%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Laton walkable?
Laton is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Laton without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 88% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Laton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Laton
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.