Most of Lucerne commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
Jobs and income earn Lucerne D; getting around on foot earns it B−. Lucerne has 260 jobs; 796 of its residents have a job. Household incomes here are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Lucerne, in brief
Lucerne 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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; with 796 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Lucerne
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lucerne is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #808 of 847 in California. Household income holds Lucerne’s grade up ($56,625, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lucerne could be anywhere from D− to B−.
Time on the road from Lucerne: about 39 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lucerne workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,364 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Lucerne
About 34% 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.
How many people are in Lucerne by day
On a workday 732 residents head out to work, 64 work right here, and 196 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Lucerne on a workday afternoon, 16% 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.
10% of working residents work in Lakeport
Where Lucerne clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Lucerne
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lucerne, 2013 → 2023: 211 → 260. 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 Lucerne’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Lucerne start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lucerne is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #707 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,557 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 97% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 12.5% of Lucerne households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lucerne’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lucerne and other U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,600
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | Anna IL | 4,096 | $33K | 34.3% | 6.7% | 28% | D |
| 4,113 | Frederick OK | 3,371 | $45K | 25.0% | 5.0% | 37% | D |
| 4,114 | Lucerne CA | 3,435 | $57K | 19.4% | 6.7% | 8% | D |
| 4,115 | Chauvin LA | 2,502 | $53K | 21.3% | 10.3% | 6% | D |
| 4,116 | Rayville LA | 3,176 | $27K | 41.1% | 12.2% | 21% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,402 | 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 Lucerne, 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 Lucerne: questions
What is the median household income in Lucerne?
$56,625 (±$13,985) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lucerne?
19.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lucerne?
39 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lucerne work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lakeport (10%, 8 mi), Nice (8%, 6 mi), Ukiah (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lucerne walkable?
Lucerne is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lucerne without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 97% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lucerne, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lucerne
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.