At 17.8%, unemployment in Mojave is among the highest of any U.S. town
About one in five work in Mojave; the top destination outside it is Lancaster (11%, 22 miles). Jobs and income earn Mojave D−; getting around on foot earns it C. Household incomes here are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Mojave apart on work
The jobs in Mojave pay better than its residents’ jobs
77% of the jobs based in Mojave pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 49% of the jobs Mojave residents hold. 91% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Mojave. The jobs ↓
Mojave is where the jobs are
Mojave has 2,631 jobs, 2.2 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
47% 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 ↓
Mojave makes and builds things
48% of the jobs based in Mojave are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Mojave residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
The biggest group of Mojave’s workers comes from Lancaster
316 of the people who work in Mojave live in Lancaster, 22 miles away, more than from any other town. 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.
Inside Mojave’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mojave is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #823 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Mojave’s grade up (ahead of 23% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mojave could be anywhere from D− to D.
A place that makes things: 48% of Mojave’s jobs are in goods
2,631 jobs are based in Mojave.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mojave, 2013 → 2023: 2,018 → 2,631. 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 Mojave’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Mojave
On a workday 942 residents head out to work, 233 work right here, and 2,398 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,600 people are in Mojave on a workday afternoon, 28% more than live here.
2.2 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Mojave
About 47% 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.
Where the people who work in Mojave live
Where Mojave clocks in
11% 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 trip to work from Mojave: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mojave workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,564 commuters (the 10% 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.
Most of Mojave commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Mojave is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #786 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,744 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 39% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 24% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 1.6% of Mojave households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Mojave’s commuters take a bus or train.
Mojave next to U.S. towns of 3,600 to 7,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,584 | Bolivar TN | 5,043 | $39K | 21.7% | 13.2% | 27% | D− |
| 3,585 | Kinross Township MI | 6,790 | $61K | 21.3% | 11.4% | 15% | D− |
| 3,586 | Mojave CA | 5,173 | $56K | 25.5% | 17.8% | 20% | D− |
| 3,587 | Berryville AR | 5,813 | $42K | 22.8% | 8.5% | 38% | D− |
| 3,588 | Jonesboro LA | 4,252 | $42K | 35.1% | 6.4% | 23% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,696 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Mojave, 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 Mojave: questions
What is the median household income in Mojave?
$55,660 (±$13,147) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mojave?
25.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mojave?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mojave work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lancaster (11%, 22 mi), Los Angeles (6%, 70 mi), Palmdale (5%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mojave walkable?
Mojave is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mojave without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 24% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mojave, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mojave
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.