Paradise’s household incomes are lower than in 62% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Paradise itself; outside it, Chico draws the most (33%, 11 miles). 18.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.0% across California. For jobs and income Paradise is better than 22% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (C+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Paradise stands out on work
Fewer jobs are based in Paradise than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Paradise fell from 5,767 in 2013 to 2,267 in 2023, −61%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Paradise trades workers with the towns around it
Paradise has about as many jobs (2,267) as working residents (2,397), but they are mostly different people: 1,973 residents leave for work each day while 1,843 people come in. Only 19% of the jobs in Paradise are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Paradise and Chico trade workers both ways
Chico is the top workplace for Paradise residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Paradise come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Paradise are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
What’s behind Paradise’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Paradise’s grade up (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Paradise could be anywhere from D− to B.
Jobs in Paradise: what the 2,267 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Paradise, 2013 → 2023: 5,767 → 2,267. 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 Paradise’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Paradise
On a workday 1,973 residents head out to work, 424 work right here, and 1,843 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 (0.95 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.
Where the trip to work from Paradise ends
Where Paradise clocks in
33% of workers
9% 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.
The daily trip from Paradise: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Paradise workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,596 commuters (the 19% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Paradise
About 19% 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.
Driving is how Paradise gets around
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,960 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 20% 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). 6.0% of Paradise households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Paradise’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000, Paradise comes 2,416th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,414 | Fairfield AL | 9,483 | $48K | 32.4% | 6.5% | 2% | C− |
| 2,415 | Montevallo AL | 7,872 | $57K | 17.7% | 7.2% | 9% | C− |
| 2,416 | Paradise CA | 10,023 | $68K | 18.2% | 4.9% | 18% | C− |
| 2,417 | Paris IL | 8,026 | $54K | 12.5% | 5.0% | 44% | C− |
| 2,418 | Travelers Rest SC | 9,135 | $55K | 22.0% | 6.2% | 10% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Paradise, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How Paradise compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Magalia (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Paradise’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 Paradise: questions
What is the median household income in Paradise?
$67,687 (±$26,828) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Paradise?
18.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Paradise?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Paradise work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chico (33%, 11 mi), Oroville (9%, 18 mi), Butte Valley (2%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Paradise walkable?
Paradise is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Paradise without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Paradise, from the people who make the trip.
More of Paradise
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.