Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Most of Riverdale commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 5.7 in Fresno. Employers in Riverdale report 605 jobs, against 1,200 working residents. For jobs and income Riverdale is better than 35% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Riverdale, in a few figures
Few Riverdale workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Riverdale’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Riverdale is Fresno, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 14% of working residents (169) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Riverdale are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 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.
Why Riverdale gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Riverdale’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($56,975, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Riverdale could be anywhere from D to B+.
About 23 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Riverdale workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,412 commuters (the 4% 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.
Where in the region Riverdale works
About 22% 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.
How many people are in Riverdale by day
On a workday 1,056 residents head out to work, 144 work right here, and 461 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Riverdale on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
14% of working residents work in Fresno
Where Riverdale clocks in
14% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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 Riverdale: what the 605 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Riverdale, 2013 → 2023: 593 → 605. 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 Riverdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Riverdale
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 8.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,470 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 37% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 37% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 1.8% of Riverdale households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Riverdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 4,900, Riverdale ranks 2,825th of 4,210 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Emerald Lake Hills CA | 4,235 | $250K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,823 | Deer Creek Township IN | 4,651 | $62K | 8.6% | 6.2% | 18% | C |
| 2,824 | Gibson AR | 4,167 | $66K | 10.7% | 11.3% | 1% | C |
| 2,825 | Riverdale CA | 3,653 | $57K | 12.6% | 3.9% | 12% | C |
| 2,826 | East Camden SC | 4,194 | $54K | 20.5% | 2.5% | 3% | C |
| 2,827 | Bayfield CO | 2,974 | $93K | 8.4% | 6.5% | 18% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,210 | 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 Riverdale, 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 Riverdale: questions
What is the median household income in Riverdale?
$56,975 (±$7,202) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Riverdale?
12.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Riverdale?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Riverdale work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (14%, 25 mi), Hanford (4%, 14 mi), Visalia (3%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Riverdale walkable?
Riverdale is more walkable than 86% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Riverdale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 37% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Riverdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Riverdale
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.