Photo: David Jordan at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Mendota (11.5%) than in 97% of U.S. towns
Mendota grades D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, 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 Mendota apart
Mendota’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Mendota is Fresno, 32 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (346) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Mendota has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Mendota went from 1,037 in 2013 to 1,523 in 2023, +47%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The four measures behind Mendota’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mendota is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #831 of 847 in California. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Mendota’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mendota could be anywhere from D− to D.
How far Mendota goes to work
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.
Jobs in Mendota: what the 1,523 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mendota, 2013 → 2023: 1,037 → 1,523. 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 Mendota’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Mendota on a workday
On a workday 2,307 residents head out to work, 401 work right here, and 1,122 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.
0.56 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 Fresno
Where Mendota clocks in
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.
Time on the road from Mendota: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mendota workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,137 commuters (the 7% 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.
For most of Mendota, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mendota is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns, #737 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.1% 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 4,441 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 63% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 9.6% of Mendota households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Mendota’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Mendota compares with U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,344 | California City CA | 13,300 | $60K | 22.8% | 18.7% | 14% | D− |
| 2,345 | Selma AL | 16,077 | $33K | 30.8% | 14.0% | 33% | D− |
| 2,346 | Mendota CA | 12,778 | $50K | 27.5% | 11.5% | 15% | D− |
| 2,347 | Clarksdale MS | 13,643 | $36K | 40.3% | 10.8% | 40% | D− |
| 2,348 | Bogalusa LA | 10,321 | $31K | 39.4% | 15.7% | 21% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Mendota, 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 Mendota: questions
What is the median household income in Mendota?
$50,342 (±$7,587) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mendota?
27.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mendota?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mendota work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (13%, 32 mi), Firebaugh (4%, 8 mi), Kerman (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mendota walkable?
Mendota is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mendota without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mendota, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mendota
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.