Households in Mecca earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Mecca are D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Below the poverty line: 17.8% of residents; California has 12.0%. 3% of workers work from home (California 17%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Mecca
Few Mecca workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Mecca makes and builds things
43% of the jobs based in Mecca are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Mecca residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 33%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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 ↓
Mecca is a place people come home to
There are 780 jobs based in Mecca, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Mecca has about 5,200 people in it, 28% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Mecca workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Mecca’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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 figures behind Mecca’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mecca is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #782 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Mecca’s grade up (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($48,312, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mecca could be anywhere from D− to B−.
The daily trip from Mecca: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mecca workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,368 commuters (the 3% 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.
A place that makes things: 43% of Mecca’s jobs are in goods
780 jobs are based in Mecca.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mecca, 2013 → 2023: 1,062 → 780. 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 Mecca’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Mecca
About 38% 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.
Who leaves Mecca for work, and who comes in
On a workday 2,621 residents head out to work, 161 work right here, and 619 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Mecca on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.28 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.
13% of working residents work in Indio
Where Mecca clocks in
13% of workers
8% 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.
Getting around Mecca: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mecca is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #490 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 3,459 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 28% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 62% 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). 15.3% of Mecca households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Mecca’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Mecca compares with U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,700
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | La Habra Heights CA | 5,327 | $180K | 4.9% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,983 | Hudson NY | 5,721 | $54K | 28.2% | 7.7% | 23% | D |
| 2,984 | Franklin Township IN | 7,070 | $45K | 24.0% | 8.2% | 11% | D |
| 2,985 | Mecca CA | 7,184 | $48K | 17.8% | 7.0% | 6% | D |
| 2,986 | Heber Springs AR | 7,323 | $51K | 17.0% | 6.5% | 32% | D |
| 2,987 | Norwich NY | 6,538 | $53K | 14.2% | 11.8% | 27% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,205 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Mecca, 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 Mecca: questions
What is the median household income in Mecca?
$48,312 (±$10,753) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mecca?
17.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mecca?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mecca work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Indio (13%, 15 mi), Coachella (8%, 9 mi), Palm Desert (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mecca walkable?
Mecca is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mecca without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 28% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mecca, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mecca
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.