More people are out of work in Palmdale (8.3%) than in 89% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 9% of workers (California 17%). Palmdale grades C for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in seven work in Palmdale; the top destination outside it is Los Angeles (22%, 43 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Palmdale: the figures worth knowing
Palmdale’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Palmdale is Los Angeles, 43 miles away as the crow flies. 22% of working residents (13,214) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Palmdale workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 40 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 307 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Palmdale has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Palmdale went from 25,226 in 2013 to 34,160 in 2023, +35%. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Palmdale’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palmdale is better than 32% of U.S. towns, #640 of 847 in California. Household income holds Palmdale’s grade up ($81,770, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palmdale could be anywhere from C to C+.
How far it is to work from Palmdale
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.
A commute of about 40 minutes in Palmdale
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palmdale workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 60,355 commuters (the 9% 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.
Goods, not services: 29% of the jobs in Palmdale
34,160 jobs are based in Palmdale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palmdale, 2013 → 2023: 25,226 → 34,160. 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 Palmdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Palmdale quiets down on a workday
On a workday 50,515 residents head out to work, 9,141 work right here, and 25,019 people come in from elsewhere.
About 136,000 people are in Palmdale on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.57 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.
Where Palmdale goes to work
Where Palmdale clocks in
12% of workers
5% 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.
In Palmdale, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palmdale is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #645 of 847 in California. 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 66,400 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 2% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 40% 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). 4.8% of Palmdale households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Palmdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Ranked on jobs and income, Palmdale is 167th among 201 U.S. towns of 113,000 to 218,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| 3 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Santa Clara CA | 133,446 | $179K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 165 | Gainesville FL | 148,671 | $46K | 30.8% | 5.5% | 53% | C |
| 166 | Evansville IN | 116,176 | $53K | 18.4% | 5.1% | 60% | C |
| 167 | Palmdale CA | 161,845 | $82K | 15.7% | 8.3% | 15% | C |
| 168 | Waco TX | 147,788 | $54K | 23.1% | 4.6% | 49% | C |
| 169 | Paradise NV | 185,913 | $59K | 17.6% | 9.8% | 37% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Palmdale, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Palmdale and its neighbors: 12% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palmdale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palmdale | – | C | B | 40 min | $81,770 |
| Leona Valley | under 1% | B | D | 38 min | $131,667 |
| Sun Village | under 1% | C− | C+ | 41 min | $72,173 |
| Littlerock | under 1% | C | C− | 44 min | $56,792 |
| Lancaster | 12% | C | B+ | 31 min | $81,511 |
| Quartz Hill | under 1% | B− | C | 35 min | $105,443 |
| Acton | under 1% | B | C+ | 47 min | $113,000 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Lancaster. Darker towns draw more of Palmdale’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 Palmdale: questions
What is the median household income in Palmdale?
$81,770 (±$2,952) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palmdale?
15.7%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palmdale?
40 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palmdale work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (22%, 43 mi), Lancaster (12%, 8 mi), Santa Clarita (5%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palmdale walkable?
Palmdale is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palmdale without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palmdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palmdale
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.