Photo: kl91711 · CC BY 3.0Unemployment in Pomona (6.6%) is higher than in 79% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 5.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. For jobs and income Pomona is better than 52% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (A). 9% of workers have no commute at all, next to 17% for California as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Pomona apart on work
Pomona’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pomona is Los Angeles, 37 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (5,710) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pomona draws workers from far and wide
The 48,443 jobs in Pomona are filled from a wide area. Pomona’s own residents hold 13% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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 Pomona’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Pomona’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pomona could be anywhere from B− to B.
How far it is to work from Pomona
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.
10% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Pomona clocks in
6% 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.
Who works in Pomona, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 51,163 residents head out to work, 6,192 work right here, and 42,251 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 (0.84 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.
66% of the jobs in Pomona pay over $3,333 a month
48,443 jobs are based in Pomona.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pomona, 2013 → 2023: 40,125 → 48,443. 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 Pomona’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way, longer than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pomona workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 61,163 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Pomona
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% 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 67,398 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 93% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 40% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 6.5% of Pomona households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Pomona’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Pomona is 146th of 240 U.S. towns of 103,000 to 200,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | San Mateo CA | 103,337 | $154K | 8.2% | 4.6% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 144 | Antioch CA | 118,958 | $97K | 11.4% | 7.4% | 10% | B− |
| 145 | Clearwater FL | 114,364 | $66K | 14.8% | 4.2% | 20% | B− |
| 146 | Pomona CA | 147,807 | $79K | 14.3% | 6.6% | 11% | B− |
| 147 | Green Bay WI | 106,675 | $66K | 14.7% | 3.7% | 38% | B− |
| 148 | West Palm Beach FL | 127,189 | $73K | 14.1% | 5.1% | 22% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 240 | 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 Pomona, the top three, the last and three more from California.
11% of Pomona works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Chino (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pomona workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pomona | – | B− | A | 32 min | $79,479 |
| San Dimas | 2% | A− | B | 32 min | $105,321 |
| La Verne | under 2% | B+ | A | 33 min | $103,761 |
| Claremont | 2% | A− | A+ | 27 min | $125,647 |
| Diamond Bar | under 2% | A− | B+ | 33 min | $108,281 |
| Walnut | under 2% | A | A | 34 min | $129,449 |
| Industry | 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Chino Hills | under 2% | B+ | B | 36 min | $126,334 |
| Chino | 4% | B+ | B+ | 33 min | $104,682 |
Same-state neighbors only. Industry: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pomona’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 Pomona: questions
What is the median household income in Pomona?
$79,479 (±$3,248) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pomona?
14.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pomona?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pomona work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (10%, 37 mi), Ontario (6%, 9 mi), Chino (4%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pomona walkable?
Pomona is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pomona without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 40% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pomona, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pomona
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.