Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Unemployment in Porterville (10.1%) is higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 3% of workers, next to 17% for California as a whole. For jobs and income Porterville is better than 15% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B). About one in three stay in Porterville for work; outside it, Visalia is the main destination (10%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Porterville
Few Porterville 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 ↓
Porterville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Porterville is Visalia, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (2,095) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Porterville 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.
Where Porterville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Porterville’s grade up (ahead of 45% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Porterville could be anywhere from D to C−.
About 24 minutes to work from Porterville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Porterville workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 24,300 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Porterville
About 25% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 14,581 residents head out to work, 6,660 work right here, and 9,198 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.
0.75 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.
Where Porterville’s working residents head each day
Where Porterville clocks in
10% 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.
Jobs in Porterville: what the 15,858 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Porterville, 2013 → 2023: 16,287 → 15,858. 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 Porterville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Porterville is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% 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 24,946 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 Porterville households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Porterville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Porterville next to U.S. towns of 44,000 to 85,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 689 | Springfield OH | 58,281 | $47K | 23.1% | 9.4% | 34% | C− |
| 690 | Gary IN | 67,289 | $39K | 33.1% | 11.0% | 18% | C− |
| 691 | Porterville CA | 63,088 | $60K | 17.3% | 10.1% | 31% | C− |
| 692 | Gulfport MS | 76,506 | $50K | 22.8% | 9.1% | 42% | D |
| 693 | Roswell NM | 46,878 | $52K | 26.0% | 5.0% | 52% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 709 | Pahrump NV | 47,347 | $62K | 13.7% | 8.5% | 28% | 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 Porterville, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work in the towns next to Porterville
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Porterville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porterville | – | C− | B | 24 min | $60,461 |
| East Porterville | under 2% | D− | C | 39 min | $41,061 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Porterville’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 Porterville: questions
What is the median household income in Porterville?
$60,461 (±$4,586) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Porterville?
17.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Porterville?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Porterville work?
31% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Visalia (10%, 25 mi), Fresno (4%, 65 mi), Terra Bella (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Porterville walkable?
Porterville is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Porterville 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 Porterville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Porterville
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.