With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Phoenix Lake works elsewhere
There are 220 jobs in Phoenix Lake, against 2,090 working residents. The two grades for Phoenix Lake are B− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Measured by household income, Phoenix Lake is ahead of 79% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Phoenix Lake stands out on work
A big share show a job far from home
50% 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 ↓
Phoenix Lake is a place people come home to
There are 220 jobs based in Phoenix Lake, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Phoenix Lake has about 2,900 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Phoenix Lake
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Phoenix Lake is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #470 of 847 in California. The poverty rate holds Phoenix Lake’s grade up (4.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Phoenix Lake could be anywhere from C to A−.
How far it is to work from Phoenix Lake
About 50% 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.
How many people are in Phoenix Lake by day
On a workday 2,046 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 176 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Phoenix Lake on a workday afternoon, 39% fewer than live here.
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 Sonora
Where Phoenix Lake 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.
Phoenix Lake makes things: 29% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Phoenix Lake, 2013 → 2023: 172 → 220. 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 Phoenix Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Phoenix Lake, about 25 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Phoenix Lake workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,505 commuters (the 15% 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.
For most of Phoenix Lake, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Phoenix Lake is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns, #832 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,779 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). 10.8% of Phoenix Lake households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Phoenix Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Phoenix Lake ranks: 1,847th of 3,753 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,845 | Brownville NY | 5,698 | $88K | 10.3% | 2.7% | 8% | B− |
| 1,846 | Washington Township PA | 4,364 | $94K | 5.1% | 8.3% | 9% | B− |
| 1,847 | Phoenix Lake CA | 4,794 | $103K | 4.8% | 4.8% | 2% | B− |
| 1,848 | Sage CA | 3,781 | $120K | 8.8% | 5.2% | 1% | B− |
| 1,849 | Brentwood MD | 3,828 | $70K | 11.8% | 5.5% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Phoenix Lake, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Phoenix Lake and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to East Sonora (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Phoenix Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Lake | – | B− | D | 25 min | $103,125 |
| Mono Vista | 2% | C | B | 32 min | $85,769 |
| East Sonora | 4% | B | C+ | 19 min | $77,574 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Phoenix Lake’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 Phoenix Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Phoenix Lake?
$103,125 (±$30,490) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Phoenix Lake?
4.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Phoenix Lake?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Phoenix Lake work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sonora (12%, 4 mi), East Sonora (4%, 3 mi), Modesto (4%, 46 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Phoenix Lake walkable?
Phoenix Lake is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Phoenix Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Phoenix Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Phoenix Lake
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.