Photo: Victorrocha · CC BY 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Rowland Heights works elsewhere
Rowland Heights grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. Employers in Rowland Heights report 9,025 jobs for 19,203 working residents. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Rowland Heights
Rowland Heights’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Rowland Heights is Los Angeles, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (2,295) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Rowland Heights
61% of Rowland Heights residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Rowland Heights pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Rowland Heights draws workers from far and wide
The 9,025 jobs in Rowland Heights are filled from a wide area. Rowland Heights’ own residents hold 15% and the ten next-biggest home towns 27%; the other 58% 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.
Jobs & income in Rowland Heights: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rowland Heights is better than 59% of U.S. towns, #412 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Rowland Heights’ grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.1%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rowland Heights could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Where in the region Rowland Heights works
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.
The kinds of work in Rowland Heights
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rowland Heights, 2013 → 2023: 7,364 → 9,025. 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 Rowland Heights’s own residents hold wherever they work.
12% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Rowland Heights clocks in
8% 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.
In and out of Rowland Heights on a workday
On a workday 17,840 residents head out to work, 1,363 work right here, and 7,662 people come in from elsewhere.
About 36,000 people are in Rowland Heights on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
The trip to work from Rowland Heights: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rowland Heights workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,270 commuters (the 14% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Rowland Heights
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rowland Heights is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #283 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% 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 21,341 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 3.9% of Rowland Heights households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Rowland Heights’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Rowland Heights is 582nd of 969 U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Newark CA | 47,895 | $169K | 4.3% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 580 | La Porte TX | 37,983 | $81K | 12.2% | 5.4% | 10% | B |
| 581 | Coconut Creek FL | 58,626 | $75K | 11.0% | 5.0% | 6% | B |
| 582 | Rowland Heights CA | 45,911 | $86K | 12.4% | 6.1% | 7% | B |
| 583 | West Sacramento CA | 56,216 | $93K | 12.8% | 6.0% | 14% | B |
| 584 | St. Clair Township IL | 35,372 | $80K | 11.7% | 4.8% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Rowland Heights, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Bordering towns draw 11% of Rowland Heights’ workers
The biggest share goes to Industry (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rowland Heights workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowland Heights | – | B | A | 33 min | $85,617 |
| Industry | 8% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Diamond Bar | 3% | A− | B+ | 33 min | $108,281 |
| Brea | under 2% | A | A− | 31 min | $131,129 |
| Hacienda Heights | under 2% | B+ | A | 34 min | $109,193 |
| La Habra Heights | under 2% | A+ | B− | 34 min | $179,583 |
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 Rowland Heights’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 Rowland Heights: questions
What is the median household income in Rowland Heights?
$85,617 (±$6,641) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rowland Heights?
12.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rowland Heights?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rowland Heights work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (12%, 30 mi), Industry (8%, 5 mi), Anaheim (3%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Rowland Heights walkable?
Rowland Heights is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rowland Heights without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rowland Heights, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rowland Heights
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.