More people are out of work in North Highlands (6.3%) than in 77% of U.S. towns
North Highlands grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.8 in Sacramento. Only 6% work in North Highlands itself; outside it, Sacramento draws the most (21%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in North Highlands, in a few figures
Inside North Highlands’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, North Highlands is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #600 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds North Highlands’ grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, North Highlands could be anywhere from C to B−.
Where the trip to work from North Highlands ends
Where North Highlands clocks in
21% of workers
8% 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.
Who commutes out of North Highlands, and who commutes in
On a workday 17,323 residents head out to work, 1,093 work right here, and 14,406 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 (0.84 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 North Highlands’ employers do
15,499 jobs are based in North Highlands.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Highlands, 2013 → 2023: 14,882 → 15,499. 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 North Highlands’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from North Highlands: 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 North Highlands workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,247 commuters (the 12% 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.
Half of North Highlands commutes less than 10 miles
About 22% 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.
North Highlands is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 20,847 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, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 8.9% of North Highlands households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of North Highlands’ commuters take a bus or train.
North Highlands places 729th of 909 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 34,000 to 65,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 727 | Chelsea MA | 40,130 | $72K | 20.7% | 9.2% | 11% | C+ |
| 728 | Beloit WI | 36,649 | $63K | 15.0% | 5.3% | 28% | C+ |
| 729 | North Highlands CA | 47,957 | $65K | 19.6% | 6.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 730 | Dalton GA | 35,322 | $64K | 18.6% | 4.3% | 38% | C+ |
| 731 | Greenville TX | 37,069 | $63K | 11.5% | 5.7% | 28% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 909 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 North Highlands, the top three, the last and three more from California.
28% of North Highlands works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | North Highlands workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Highlands | – | C+ | A− | 31 min | $65,495 |
| Carmichael | 3% | B− | A | 27 min | $85,914 |
| Sacramento | 21% | B− | A | 25 min | $87,321 |
| McClellan Park | under 3% | C− | A+ | 26 min | $23,750 |
| Foothill Farms | under 3% | C+ | A− | 28 min | $68,260 |
| Arden-Arcade | 4% | C+ | A | 26 min | $77,321 |
| Antelope | under 3% | B | A− | 29 min | $99,067 |
| Rio Linda | under 3% | B | A− | 29 min | $96,364 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Sacramento. Darker towns draw more of North Highlands’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 North Highlands: questions
What is the median household income in North Highlands?
$65,495 (±$4,671) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Highlands?
19.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Highlands?
31 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Highlands work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sacramento (21%, 9 mi), Roseville (8%, 7 mi), Rancho Cordova (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is North Highlands walkable?
North Highlands is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Highlands without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Highlands, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Highlands
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.