More people are out of work in Paramount (5.7%) than in 71% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 7% of workers, next to 17% for California as a whole. Paramount grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.8 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
The work figures that set Paramount apart
Jobs & income in Paramount: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Paramount is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #443 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Paramount’s grade up (among the top U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Paramount could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Where Paramount goes to work
Where Paramount clocks in
3% 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.
A workday in Paramount: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 19,513 residents head out to work, 1,581 work right here, and 14,725 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.
The kinds of work in Paramount
16,306 jobs are based in Paramount.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Paramount, 2013 → 2023: 16,379 → 16,306. 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 Paramount’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Paramount
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Paramount workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 22,656 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from Paramount
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Paramount
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Paramount is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #149 of 847 in California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 24,442 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, 35% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 5.5% of Paramount households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Paramount’s commuters take a bus or train.
Paramount next to U.S. towns of 36,000 to 69,000: 542nd of 846 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 540 | Antelope CA | 48,301 | $99K | 10.6% | 8.5% | 4% | B |
| 541 | Lacey WA | 58,833 | $91K | 11.6% | 4.9% | 17% | B |
| 542 | Paramount CA | 50,755 | $75K | 12.6% | 5.7% | 7% | B |
| 543 | Stickney Township IL | 40,266 | $78K | 12.1% | 6.3% | 9% | B |
| 544 | Sanford FL | 67,483 | $67K | 11.9% | 4.0% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 846 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Paramount, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 14% of Paramount
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Paramount workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paramount | – | B | A | 28 min | $75,250 |
| South Gate | under 2% | B− | A | 33 min | $74,571 |
| East Rancho Dominguez | under 2% | B− | A | 32 min | $72,895 |
| Compton | 2% | C+ | A | 31 min | $78,465 |
| Long Beach | 7% | B | A | 30 min | $87,430 |
| Lynwood | under 2% | C+ | A | 30 min | $74,844 |
| Bellflower | 2% | B− | A | 29 min | $78,722 |
| Downey | 3% | B+ | A | 31 min | $90,699 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Long Beach. Darker towns draw more of Paramount’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 Paramount: questions
What is the median household income in Paramount?
$75,250 (±$6,365) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Paramount?
12.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Paramount?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Paramount work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (17%, 16 mi), Long Beach (7%, 8 mi), Downey (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Paramount walkable?
Paramount is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 14.1 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Paramount without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 35% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Paramount, from the people who make the trip.
More of Paramount
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.