Photo: Stepheng3 at English Wikipedia · Public domainHousehold incomes in Occidental are higher than in 82% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 1.0 in Santa Rosa. Below the poverty line: 7.0% of residents; California has 12.0%. Jobs and income earn Occidental B+; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Occidental at work: what stands out
A lot of Occidental works from home
55% of Occidental workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Occidental workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 45 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 345 hours of commuting, 123 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% 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 ↓
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 382 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Occidental gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Occidental is better than 70% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Occidental’s grade up ($108,207, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (4.6%) is left out: Occidental’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Occidental could be anywhere from C− to A.
Time on the road from Occidental: about 45 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 14.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Occidental workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 260 commuters (the 55% 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.
The commute from Occidental, by distance
About 34% 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 commutes out of Occidental, and who commutes in
On a workday 357 residents head out to work, 25 work right here, and 268 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 (0.77 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.
12% of working residents work in Santa Rosa
Where Occidental clocks in
12% of workers
4% 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.
Services make up most of the work in Occidental
293 jobs are based in Occidental.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Occidental, 2013 → 2023: 265 → 293. 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 Occidental’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Occidental
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Occidental is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Occidental near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 580 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 53% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 53% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 0.6% of Occidental households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Occidental’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Occidental is 830th of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Castle Hill CA | 1,026 | $250K | 0.2% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Ladera CA | 1,297 | $236K | 1.5% | 10.7% | 1% | A+ |
| 16 | Acalanes Ridge CA | 1,006 | $181K | 1.5% | 7.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 828 | Roaming Shores OH | 1,600 | $91K | 6.4% | 2.1% | 1% | B+ |
| 829 | Empire Township KS | 1,301 | $95K | 4.4% | 0.4% | 6% | B+ |
| 830 | Occidental CA | 1,225 | $108K | 7.0% | 4.6% | 7% | B+ |
| 831 | Broadalbin NY | 1,329 | $108K | 8.1% | 2.9% | 5% | B+ |
| 832 | Schwenksville PA | 1,265 | $73K | 9.1% | 6.8% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Occidental, 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 Occidental: questions
What is the median household income in Occidental?
$108,207 (±$87,818) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Occidental?
7.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Occidental?
45 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 55% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Occidental work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Rosa (12%, 13 mi), San Francisco (6%, 51 mi), Petaluma (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Occidental walkable?
Occidental is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Occidental without a car?
12% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 53% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Occidental, from the people who make the trip.
More of Occidental
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.