Photo: Dorothea Lange · Public domainMcFarland has higher unemployment (7.9%) than 88% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn McFarland C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. Measured by household income, McFarland is behind 82% of U.S. towns. 4% of workers have no commute at all, where California as a whole has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set McFarland apart
McFarland makes and builds things
64% of the jobs based in McFarland are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs McFarland residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 33%. The jobs ↓
McFarland trades workers with the towns around it
McFarland has about as many jobs (3,420) as working residents (3,963), but they are mostly different people: 3,417 residents leave for work each day while 2,874 people come in. Only 16% of the jobs in McFarland are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Many jobs in McFarland pay little
38% of the jobs based in McFarland pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
McFarland and Bakersfield trade workers both ways
Bakersfield is the top workplace for McFarland residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in McFarland come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside McFarland
49% of McFarland residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 27% of the jobs based in McFarland pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 86% leave town for their job. 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.
The four measures behind McFarland’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, McFarland is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #748 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds McFarland’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (24.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McFarland could be anywhere from D to C.
Making and building: 64% of jobs based in McFarland
3,420 jobs are based in McFarland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McFarland, 2013 → 2023: 3,453 → 3,420. 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 McFarland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in McFarland: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,417 residents head out to work, 546 work right here, and 2,874 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in Bakersfield
Where McFarland clocks in
15% of workers
13% 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.
About 24 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McFarland workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,064 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.
The commute from McFarland, by distance
About 26% 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 of McFarland commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, McFarland is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #581 of 847 in California. Both inputs place McFarland near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,270 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 42% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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). 6.0% of McFarland households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of McFarland’s commuters take a bus or train.
McFarland and other U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,160 | Brownwood TX | 18,635 | $49K | 20.9% | 4.8% | 42% | C− |
| 2,161 | Kirksville MO | 17,863 | $50K | 28.2% | 4.0% | 49% | C− |
| 2,162 | McFarland CA | 14,709 | $55K | 24.1% | 7.9% | 14% | C− |
| 2,163 | Cahokia Heights IL | 16,874 | $34K | 34.1% | 10.0% | 8% | C− |
| 2,164 | El Campo TX | 12,142 | $67K | 21.0% | 6.4% | 26% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 McFarland, 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 McFarland: questions
What is the median household income in McFarland?
$54,608 (±$7,379) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McFarland?
24.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McFarland?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McFarland work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bakersfield (15%, 24 mi), Delano (13%, 7 mi), Shafter (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McFarland walkable?
McFarland is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McFarland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McFarland, from the people who make the trip.
More of McFarland
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.