Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Needles’ household incomes are lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Needles D−; getting around on foot earns it B−. 29.7% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. 6% of workers have no commute at all, against 17% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Needles
Many of the people who work in Needles live in another state
Lake Havasu City, AZ (9%), Fort Mohave, AZ (7%) and Bullhead City, AZ (6%) are among the top places Needles’ workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 33% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
A lot of Needles workers cross into Arizona
23% of Needles workers work outside California, most of them in Arizona, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Needles are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
48% 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 ↓
Needles trades workers with the towns around it
Needles has about as many jobs (1,366) as working residents (1,462), but they are mostly different people: 1,025 residents leave for work each day while 929 people come in. Only 32% of the jobs in Needles are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
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.
What’s behind Needles’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Needles is near the bottom of U.S. towns, #845 of 847 in California. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Needles’ grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Needles could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where Needles goes to work
Where Needles clocks in
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 trip to work from Needles: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Needles workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,411 commuters (the 6% 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.
How many miles Needles commutes
About 48% 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 works in Needles, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,025 residents head out to work, 437 work right here, and 929 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 (0.93 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.
What work there is in Needles: 1,366 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Needles, 2013 → 2023: 1,189 → 1,366. 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 Needles’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Needles: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Needles is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns, #691 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 1,499 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 18% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 9.4% of Needles households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Needles’ commuters take a bus or train.
Where Needles sits among U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,747 | Mills Township MI | 4,054 | $42K | 30.5% | 12.1% | 4% | D− |
| 3,748 | Whiteriver AZ | 4,545 | $37K | 42.2% | 9.7% | 57% | D− |
| 3,749 | Needles CA | 4,821 | $38K | 29.7% | 12.9% | 30% | D− |
| 3,750 | Tucumcari NM | 5,082 | $32K | 34.3% | 11.2% | 41% | D− |
| 3,751 | Hawaiian Beaches HI | 3,947 | $29K | 40.4% | 8.8% | 4% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | 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 Needles, 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 Needles: questions
What is the median household income in Needles?
$38,243 (±$10,232) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Needles?
29.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Needles?
19 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Needles work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mohave Valley (4%, 7 mi), Bullhead City (3%, 22 mi), Laughlin (3%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Needles walkable?
Needles is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Needles without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Needles, from the people who make the trip.
More of Needles
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.