Mariposa County High School Auditorium · Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Mariposa’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
37.1% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Mariposa grades D− for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Mariposa
Mariposa fills up on a workday
Mariposa has 2,510 jobs, 4.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,100 people are in town, more than double the 1,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
46% 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 ↓
Mariposa has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Mariposa went from 1,312 in 2013 to 2,510 in 2023, +91%. The jobs ↓
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 557 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Mariposa gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Mariposa is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Mariposa’s grade.
Unemployment (6.6%) is left out: Mariposa’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, Mariposa could be anywhere from D− to D.
Who leaves Mariposa for work, and who comes in
On a workday 446 residents head out to work, 111 work right here, and 2,399 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Mariposa on a workday afternoon, 172% more than live here.
4.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
How far Mariposa’s workers travel
About 46% 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.
Most jobs in Mariposa are in services
2,510 jobs are based in Mariposa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mariposa, 2013 → 2023: 1,312 → 2,510. 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 Mariposa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Mariposa
Where Mariposa clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
The daily trip from Mariposa: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mariposa workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 243 commuters (the 8% 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.
In Mariposa, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mariposa is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 30.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 8.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 264 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 1.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% 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). 22.3% of Mariposa households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 31% of Mariposa’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mariposa and other U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Castle Hill CA | 1,026 | $250K | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,713 | Fort Deposit AL | 1,114 | $22K | 47.7% | 15.9% | 8% | D− |
| 3,714 | Drain OR | 1,190 | $46K | 35.3% | 7.1% | 8% | D− |
| 3,715 | Mariposa CA | 1,137 | $41K | 37.1% | 6.6% | 20% | D− |
| 3,716 | Eden Roc HI | 1,166 | $25K | 23.1% | 19.2% | 1% | D− |
| 3,717 | Fort Belknap Agency MT | 1,227 | $46K | 29.4% | 38.8% | 3% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Mariposa, 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 Mariposa: questions
What is the median household income in Mariposa?
$40,772 (±$20,374) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mariposa?
37.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mariposa?
35 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mariposa work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Yosemite Valley (6%, 28 mi), Merced (4%, 30 mi), Fresno (4%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mariposa walkable?
Mariposa is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 31% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mariposa without a car?
31% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mariposa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mariposa
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.