Photo: Jef Poskanzer · CC BY 2.0Mendocino draws 700 commuters a day, with 3.5 jobs for every working resident
About one in five stay in Mendocino for work; outside it, Fort Bragg is the main destination (15%, 9 miles). There are 738 jobs in Mendocino for 212 working residents. Working residents average 51 minutes each way, next to 29 for California and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Mendocino apart
Mendocino has far more jobs than workers
Mendocino has 738 jobs, 3.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,100 people are in town, 92% more than the 570 who live here. Day and night ↓
Mendocino workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 51 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 391 hours of commuting, 169 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Mendocino and Fort Bragg trade workers both ways
Fort Bragg is the top workplace for Mendocino residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Mendocino come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 212 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who leaves Mendocino for work, and who comes in
On a workday 174 residents head out to work and 38 work right here.
About 1,100 people are in Mendocino on a workday afternoon, 92% more 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.
The daily trip from Mendocino: about 51 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 16.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mendocino workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 256 commuters (the 13% 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.
Where the people who work in Mendocino live
Where Mendocino clocks in
15% of workers
3% 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 kinds of work in Mendocino
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mendocino, 2013 → 2023: 710 → 738. 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 Mendocino’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Mendocino’s commute, mile by mile
About 40% 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.
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 Mendocino: questions
What is the median household income in Mendocino?
$80,833 (±$20,717) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mendocino?
0.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mendocino?
51 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mendocino work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Bragg (15%, 9 mi), Ukiah (3%, 33 mi), San Francisco (3%, 130 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Mendocino without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mendocino, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mendocino
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.