Darius David Johnston House · Photo: Einbierbitte · CC BY-SA 4.0Norwalk has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For jobs and income Norwalk is better than 72% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (A). 23,748 jobs are based in Norwalk for 44,463 working residents. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Norwalk stands out on work
Where Norwalk’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Norwalk’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Norwalk could be anywhere from B to A−.
15% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Norwalk clocks in
Lines 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 daily commute in and out of Norwalk
On a workday 41,937 residents head out to work, 2,526 work right here, and 21,222 people come in from elsewhere.
About 76,000 people are in Norwalk on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
What Norwalk’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norwalk, 2013 → 2023: 21,739 → 23,748. 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 Norwalk’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Norwalk: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norwalk workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 43,809 commuters (the 8% 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 far Norwalk goes to work
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.
Norwalk is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.4% 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 47,563 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, 40% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 4.6% of Norwalk households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Norwalk’s commuters take a bus or train.
163rd of 447: where Norwalk ranks among U.S. towns of 68,000 to 131,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| 27 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 161 | Frederick MD | 92,059 | $97K | 9.2% | 3.9% | 24% | B+ |
| 162 | Georgetown TX | 106,907 | $95K | 8.0% | 4.9% | 16% | B+ |
| 163 | Norwalk CA | 97,104 | $100K | 9.3% | 5.7% | 6% | B+ |
| 164 | New Rochelle NY | 85,864 | $109K | 10.1% | 5.9% | 14% | B+ |
| 165 | Beaverton OR | 97,842 | $99K | 10.1% | 4.4% | 16% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 447 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Norwalk, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 10% of Norwalk
The biggest share goes to Santa Fe Springs (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Norwalk workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwalk | – | B+ | A | 30 min | $100,085 |
| Santa Fe Springs | 5% | B+ | B+ | 34 min | $88,238 |
| Cerritos | 3% | A | A− | 32 min | $135,439 |
| Bellflower | under 2% | B− | A | 29 min | $78,722 |
| Downey | 2% | B+ | A | 31 min | $90,699 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Norwalk’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 Norwalk: questions
What is the median household income in Norwalk?
$100,085 (±$5,094) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norwalk?
9.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norwalk?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norwalk work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (15%, 20 mi), Santa Fe Springs (5%, 2 mi), Long Beach (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Norwalk walkable?
Norwalk is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Norwalk without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 40% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Norwalk, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norwalk
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.