Households in Salton City have lower incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
4% of workers have no commute at all; California has 17%. The poverty rate is 14.4% (California 12.0%). Salton City grades D− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Salton City apart
Salton City’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Salton City is San Diego, 75 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (106) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
53% 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 ↓
Few Salton City 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 ↓
Salton City is a place people come home to
There are 350 jobs based in Salton City, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Salton City’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Salton City’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (12.8%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salton City could be anywhere from D− to C.
The distance from Salton City to work
About 53% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Salton City’s commute takes 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 Salton City workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,771 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.
Salton City quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,143 residents head out to work, 69 work right here, and 281 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,100 people are in Salton City on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.29 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 2024, primary jobs.
9% of working residents work in San Diego
Where Salton City clocks in
9% 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 Salton City
350 jobs are based in Salton City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salton City, 2014 → 2024: 371 → 350. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Salton City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Salton City, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salton City is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #752 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 4.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,847 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). 1.1% of Salton City households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salton City’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,100, and where Salton City sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,314 | Leitchfield KY | 7,015 | $44K | 24.3% | 10.2% | 34% | D− |
| 3,315 | Bennettsville SC | 7,565 | $37K | 28.4% | 12.5% | 14% | D− |
| 3,316 | Salton City CA | 5,988 | $48K | 14.4% | 12.8% | 6% | D− |
| 3,317 | Salamanca NY | 5,719 | $42K | 24.4% | 8.6% | 26% | D− |
| 3,318 | Whiteville TN | 4,482 | $42K | 28.4% | 15.1% | 9% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,394 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 3% | 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 Salton City, 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 2024, 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 Salton City: questions
What is the median household income in Salton City?
$47,827 (±$17,436) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salton City?
14.4%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salton City?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salton City work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Diego (9%, 75 mi), Oasis (5%, 18 mi), Thermal (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Salton City walkable?
Salton City is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salton City without a car?
0% 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 Salton City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salton City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.