Nice has lower household incomes than 85% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. Below the poverty line: 16.0% of residents (California 12.0%). For jobs and income Nice is better than 7% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Nice apart on work
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
Few Nice workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Nice
54% of Nice residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Nice pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 88% leave town for their job. 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; with 713 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Nice’s Jobs & income grade
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Nice’s grade.
Unemployment (6.0%) is left out: Nice’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Nice could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Miles to work from Nice
About 33% 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.
A commute of about 34 minutes in Nice
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nice workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 865 commuters (the 0% 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 jobs in Nice are in services
529 jobs are based in Nice.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nice, 2013 → 2023: 470 → 529. 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 Nice’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Nice by day
On a workday 629 residents head out to work, 84 work right here, and 445 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.
0.74 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.
12% of working residents work in Lakeport
Where Nice clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Nice
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 865 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, 98% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 9.3% of Nice households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Nice’s commuters take a bus or train.
Nice next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,606 | Avena Township IL | 1,875 | $51K | 20.0% | 5.6% | 13% | D |
| 4,607 | Perry Township OH | 2,014 | $54K | 45.2% | 1.6% | 1% | D |
| 4,608 | Nice CA | 2,569 | $52K | 16.0% | 6.0% | 12% | D |
| 4,609 | Dudley NC | 2,305 | $42K | 35.3% | 0.7% | 3% | D |
| 4,610 | Westminster SC | 2,504 | $41K | 21.3% | 3.9% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Nice, 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 Nice: questions
What is the median household income in Nice?
$52,014 (±$39,692) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nice?
16.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nice?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nice work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lakeport (12%, 7 mi), Ukiah (7%, 19 mi), Upper Lake (7%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nice walkable?
Nice is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nice without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 98% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nice, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nice
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.