Photo: TOLocal · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Lucerne Valley (18.6%) is among the highest in the country
Jobs & income D−: better than 2% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #832 of 847 in California.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns · #714 of 847 in California.
Household incomes here are lower than in 81% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 39 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). Only 6% work in Lucerne Valley; the top destination outside it is Los Angeles (10%, 91 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Lucerne Valley, in brief
Jobs in Lucerne Valley have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Lucerne Valley went from 420 in 2013 to 915 in 2023, +118%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
59% 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 ↓
Lucerne Valley’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lucerne Valley is Los Angeles, 91 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (265) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Lucerne Valley workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 39 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 299 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Lucerne Valley 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 ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Lucerne Valley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lucerne Valley is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #832 of 847 in California. Household income holds Lucerne Valley’s grade up ($54,788, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (18.6%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lucerne Valley could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
915 jobs are based in Lucerne Valley. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lucerne Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lucerne Valley, 2013 → 2023: 420 → 915. 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.
Half of Lucerne Valley commutes less than 64 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 59% 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.
About 39 minutes each way, longer than most of California
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lucerne Valley workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,553 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.
Lucerne Valley quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,402 residents head out to work, 161 work right here, and 754 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Lucerne Valley on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.36 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.
10% of working residents work in Los Angeles
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Lucerne Valley clocks in
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Most trips from Lucerne Valley start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lucerne Valley is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns, #714 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 4.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,617 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 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 56% 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). 6.9% of Lucerne Valley households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lucerne Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Lucerne Valley compares with U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,000
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Lucerne Valley, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,301 | Warren AR | 5,146 | $37K | 22.1% | 8.4% | 37% | D− |
| 3,302 | Williamston NC | 5,086 | $39K | 36.3% | 9.8% | 22% | D− |
| 3,303 | Lucerne Valley CA | 5,957 | $55K | 21.9% | 18.6% | 6% | D− |
| 3,304 | Huron CA | 7,394 | $53K | 30.4% | 12.4% | 2% | D− |
| 3,305 | Springhill LA | 4,437 | $37K | 22.4% | 9.4% | 20% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,336 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | 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.
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 Lucerne Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Lucerne Valley?
$54,788 (±$19,921) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lucerne Valley?
21.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lucerne Valley?
39 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lucerne Valley work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (10%, 91 mi), Victorville (5%, 26 mi), Apple Valley (4%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lucerne Valley walkable?
Lucerne Valley is more walkable than 46% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lucerne Valley without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lucerne Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lucerne Valley
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.