Photo: Tommaso Trentani · CC BY-SA 4.0Ripon’s household incomes are higher than in 92% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income A: better than 93% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #43 of 847 in California.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns · #575 of 847 in California.
Working residents average 27 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). About one in ten work in Ripon; the top destination outside it is Modesto (11%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Ripon, in brief
Ripon has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Ripon went from 3,125 in 2013 to 4,594 in 2023, +47%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Ripon’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ripon is better than 93% of U.S. towns, #43 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($133,380, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ripon could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Ripon makes things: 28% of its jobs are in goods
4,594 jobs are based in Ripon. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ripon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ripon, 2013 → 2023: 3,125 → 4,594. 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.
Half of Ripon commutes less than 20 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 33% 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.
Ripon quiets down on a workday
On a workday 6,585 residents head out to work, 824 work right here, and 3,770 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Ripon on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
11% of working residents work in Modesto
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Ripon clocks in
11% of workers
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 27 minutes each way, about the CA average
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ripon workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,767 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.
Most trips from Ripon start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ripon is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #575 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% 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 7,459 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 46% 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 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 42% 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). 1.4% of Ripon households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Ripon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ripon is 301st of 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ripon, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 299 | Verona Township NJ | 15,107 | $162K | 5.3% | 4.3% | 6% | A |
| 300 | Vinings GA | 14,390 | $95K | 6.2% | 2.2% | 4% | A |
| 301 | Ripon CA | 16,140 | $133K | 5.4% | 2.7% | 11% | A |
| 302 | Louisville CO | 20,581 | $147K | 4.5% | 3.6% | 11% | A |
| 303 | Holliston MA | 15,206 | $160K | 3.1% | 4.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | 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.
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 Ripon: questions
What is the median household income in Ripon?
$133,380 (±$25,268) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ripon?
5.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ripon?
27 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ripon work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Modesto (11%, 10 mi), Stockton (6%, 19 mi), Manteca (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ripon walkable?
Ripon is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ripon without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ripon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ripon
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.