Households in Planada have lower incomes than those in 94% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles. Poverty touches 21.4% of residents, where California as a whole has 12.0%. Planada grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Planada stands out on work
Planada and Merced trade workers both ways
Merced is the top workplace for Planada residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Planada come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Planada workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% 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 ↓
Planada is a place people come home to
There are 286 jobs based in Planada, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
A young workforce
32% of Planada’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Planada’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Planada is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #805 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Planada’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($42,727, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Planada could be anywhere from D− to B−.
16% of working residents work in Merced
Where Planada clocks in
16% of workers
5% 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.
From Planada, about 26 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Planada workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,326 commuters (the 3% 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.
The commute from Planada, by distance
About 38% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Planada
On a workday 1,008 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 242 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Planada on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.27 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.
Jobs in Planada: what the 286 are
286 jobs are based in Planada.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Planada, 2013 → 2023: 150 → 286. 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 Planada’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Planada, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Planada is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #336 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% 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 1,365 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, 82% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 55% 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). 8.8% of Planada households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Planada’s commuters take a bus or train.
Planada next to U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,912 | Tulia TX | 4,242 | $32K | 31.9% | 4.2% | 33% | D |
| 3,913 | Stephenson WI | 3,654 | $57K | 14.4% | 8.3% | 10% | D |
| 3,914 | Planada CA | 3,506 | $43K | 21.4% | 8.1% | 4% | D |
| 3,915 | Point Baker FL | 3,976 | $65K | 26.1% | 10.1% | 1% | D |
| 3,916 | Mingo Junction OH | 3,233 | $54K | 26.3% | 8.6% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,221 | 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 Planada, the top three, the last and three more from California.
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 Planada: questions
What is the median household income in Planada?
$42,727 (±$26,829) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Planada?
21.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Planada?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Planada work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Merced (16%, 8 mi), Fresno (5%, 46 mi), San Jose (4%, 82 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Planada walkable?
Planada is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Planada without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 82% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Planada, from the people who make the trip.
More of Planada
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.