Photo: Tori Sloane · CC BY-SA 3.0Oxnard has 0.7 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income B: better than 57% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #429 of 847 in California.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns · #410 of 847 in California.
Household incomes here are higher than in 74% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 25 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Oxnard; the top destination outside it is San Buenaventura (Ventura) (13%, 5 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.9 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 2.5 in San Buenaventura (Ventura) (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What’s behind Oxnard’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Oxnard is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #429 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Oxnard’s grade up (ahead of 79% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Oxnard could be anywhere from B− to B.
Oxnard quiets down on a workday
On a workday 58,193 residents head out to work, 21,487 work right here, and 31,970 people come in from elsewhere.
About 173,000 people are in Oxnard on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.67 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.
13% of working residents work in San Buenaventura (Ventura)
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Oxnard clocks in
8% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 53,457 jobs in Oxnard are
53,457 jobs are based in Oxnard. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oxnard’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Oxnard, 2013 → 2023: 51,572 → 53,457. 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.
About 25 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Oxnard workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 87,141 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Half of Oxnard commutes less than 9 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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.
Oxnard is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Oxnard is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #410 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% 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 94,054 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 84% 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). 4.5% of Oxnard households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Oxnard’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Oxnard is 57th of 137 U.S. towns of 140,000 to 270,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Oxnard, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| 10 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Roseville CA | 167,302 | $119K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Vancouver WA | 199,698 | $81K | 10.2% | 5.7% | 35% | B |
| 56 | Ontario CA | 187,013 | $89K | 12.4% | 6.3% | 15% | B |
| 57 | Oxnard CA | 199,651 | $96K | 11.0% | 6.5% | 27% | B |
| 58 | Cape Coral FL | 236,264 | $78K | 10.7% | 3.8% | 23% | B |
| 59 | Salinas CA | 159,134 | $92K | 13.6% | 4.7% | 39% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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.
16% of Oxnard works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to San Buenaventura (Ventura) (13%). Darker towns draw more of Oxnard’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Oxnard workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxnard | – | B | A− | 25 min | $96,212 |
| Channel Islands Beach | under 1% | A | B | 29 min | $107,380 |
| El Rio | 1% | C | B− | 23 min | $72,598 |
| Port Hueneme | 2% | B− | A | 23 min | $92,660 |
| San Buenaventura (Ventura) | 13% | B+ | A | 24 min | $103,069 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Oxnard: questions
What is the median household income in Oxnard?
$96,212 (±$3,050) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Oxnard?
11.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Oxnard?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Oxnard work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Buenaventura (Ventura) (13%, 5 mi), Camarillo (8%, 10 mi), Los Angeles (7%, 47 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Oxnard walkable?
Oxnard is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 14.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Oxnard without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Oxnard, from the people who make the trip.
More of Oxnard
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.