Kraft, Herbert, Memorial Free Library · Photo: NoeHill · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Red Bluff have lower incomes than those in 86% of U.S. towns
At home: 8% of workers have no commute at all (California 17%). 18.8% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Red Bluff grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Red Bluff apart on work
Red Bluff trades workers with the towns around it
Red Bluff has about as many jobs (6,143) as working residents (5,546), but they are mostly different people: 4,037 residents leave for work each day while 4,634 people come in. Only 25% of the jobs in Red Bluff are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Red Bluff are quick
The average trip to work takes 20 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Red Bluff’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Red Bluff is Redding, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (539) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Why Red Bluff gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Red Bluff is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #790 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Red Bluff’s grade up (ahead of 30% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($51,529, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Red Bluff could be anywhere from D to C−.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 4,037 residents head out to work, 1,509 work right here, and 4,634 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 (1.11 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 trip to work from Red Bluff: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Red Bluff workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,046 commuters (the 8% 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.
How far Red Bluff’s workers travel
About 30% 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.
10% of working residents work in Redding
Where Red Bluff clocks in
10% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
The kinds of work in Red Bluff
6,143 jobs are based in Red Bluff.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Red Bluff, 2013 → 2023: 5,918 → 6,143. 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 Red Bluff’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute in Red Bluff is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Red Bluff is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #636 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 5,464 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 10% 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). 9.5% of Red Bluff households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Red Bluff’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Red Bluff compares with U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,140 | Cairo GA | 10,150 | $41K | 28.8% | 5.2% | 28% | D |
| 2,141 | Campbellsville KY | 11,783 | $50K | 23.4% | 7.4% | 38% | D |
| 2,142 | Red Bluff CA | 14,404 | $52K | 18.8% | 7.2% | 27% | D |
| 2,143 | Sylacauga AL | 12,055 | $50K | 21.0% | 6.7% | 19% | D |
| 2,144 | Gaffney SC | 12,583 | $41K | 29.1% | 10.6% | 16% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Red Bluff, 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 Red Bluff: questions
What is the median household income in Red Bluff?
$51,529 (±$3,642) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Red Bluff?
18.8%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Red Bluff?
20 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Red Bluff work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Redding (10%, 28 mi), Chico (4%, 36 mi), Sacramento (2%, 118 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Red Bluff walkable?
Red Bluff is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Red Bluff without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 10% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Red Bluff, from the people who make the trip.
More of Red Bluff
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.