Photo: Missvain · CC BY 4.0Most of Nipomo commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
For jobs and income Nipomo is better than 79% of U.S. towns (A−); for walkability it is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (B+). Nipomo has 2,926 jobs, and 7,450 of its residents work somewhere. Measured by household income, Nipomo is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Nipomo
Nipomo and Santa Maria trade workers both ways
Santa Maria is the top workplace for Nipomo residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Nipomo come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Nipomo makes and builds things
39% of the jobs based in Nipomo are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Nipomo residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
Nipomo has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Nipomo went from 2,138 in 2013 to 2,926 in 2023, +37%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Nipomo
Household income is its strongest input ($110,022, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 53% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Nipomo could be anywhere from B to A.
19% of working residents work in Santa Maria
Where Nipomo clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
39% of the jobs in Nipomo make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Nipomo, 2013 → 2023: 2,138 → 2,926. 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 Nipomo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Nipomo by day and by night
On a workday 6,662 residents head out to work, 788 work right here, and 2,138 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Nipomo on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer 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.
From Nipomo, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Nipomo workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,145 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.
Where in the region Nipomo works
About 25% 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.
Most trips from Nipomo start in a car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.9% 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 8,623 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 14% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 43% 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). 4.4% of Nipomo households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Nipomo’s commuters take a bus or train.
717th of 2,103: where Nipomo ranks among U.S. towns of 12,000 to 24,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 715 | Stevenson Ranch CA | 20,990 | $158K | 4.2% | 9.1% | 3% | A− |
| 716 | Rossville MD | 16,059 | $90K | 7.7% | 3.8% | 5% | A− |
| 717 | Nipomo CA | 17,516 | $110K | 5.7% | 3.3% | 11% | A− |
| 718 | Accokeek MD | 14,362 | $151K | 3.7% | 9.9% | 2% | A− |
| 719 | Tyngsborough MA | 12,721 | $129K | 6.6% | 5.5% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,103 | 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 Nipomo, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How Nipomo compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Nipomo’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Nipomo: questions
What is the median household income in Nipomo?
$110,022 (±$13,665) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Nipomo?
5.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Nipomo?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Nipomo work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Maria (19%, 7 mi), San Luis Obispo (13%, 19 mi), Arroyo Grande (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Nipomo walkable?
Nipomo is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Nipomo without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 14% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Nipomo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Nipomo
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.