Photo: Cbl62 at English Wikipedia (Original text: Cbl62) · CC BY-SA 3.0For more than half of its working residents, San Fernando is a commute to Los Angeles
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, against 17% across California. San Fernando grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 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 San Fernando
San Fernando trades workers with the towns around it
San Fernando has about as many jobs (9,112) as working residents (10,162), but they are mostly different people: 9,609 residents leave for work each day while 8,559 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in San Fernando are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in San Fernando
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Fernando is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #400 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds San Fernando’s grade up (ahead of 97% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, 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, San Fernando could be anywhere from B− to B+.
In and out of San Fernando on a workday
On a workday 9,609 residents head out to work, 553 work right here, and 8,559 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 (0.90 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.
Out of San Fernando to work: where people go
Where San Fernando clocks in
4% 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 9,112 jobs based in San Fernando
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Fernando, 2013 → 2023: 7,894 → 9,112. 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 San Fernando’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 30 minutes from San Fernando
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Fernando workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,124 commuters (the 5% 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.
San Fernando’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: San Fernando
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Fernando is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #192 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.6% 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 11,751 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 60% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 5.9% of San Fernando households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of San Fernando’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, San Fernando is 1,009th of 1,780 U.S. towns of 16,000 to 32,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 42 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 153 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,007 | Monroeville PA | 27,685 | $79K | 10.7% | 4.8% | 16% | B |
| 1,008 | Cabot AR | 27,711 | $75K | 11.2% | 3.3% | 17% | B |
| 1,009 | San Fernando CA | 23,449 | $83K | 9.9% | 6.7% | 5% | B |
| 1,010 | Christiansburg VA | 22,442 | $77K | 11.7% | 2.4% | 24% | B |
| 1,011 | Groveland Township IL | 18,418 | $66K | 11.1% | 2.7% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,780 | 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 San Fernando, 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 San Fernando: questions
What is the median household income in San Fernando?
$83,024 (±$6,548) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Fernando?
9.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Fernando?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Fernando work?
5% work in town.
Is San Fernando walkable?
San Fernando is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.5 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Fernando without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 60% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Fernando, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Fernando
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.