Photo: Fruitianslip · CC BY-SA 4.0San Joaquin’s household incomes are lower than in 94% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers, next to 17% for California as a whole. The poverty rate is 41.0% (California 12.0%). San Joaquin grades D− for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in San Joaquin
San Joaquin and Fresno trade workers both ways
Fresno is the top workplace for San Joaquin residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in San Joaquin come from (28% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% 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 ↓
The jobs in San Joaquin pay better than its residents’ jobs
73% of the jobs based in San Joaquin pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 54% of the jobs San Joaquin residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside San Joaquin. The jobs ↓
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; with 579 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in San Joaquin
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Joaquin is better than 2% of U.S. towns, #835 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds San Joaquin’s grade up (ahead of 24% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (19.3%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Joaquin could be anywhere from D− to D.
Commuting out of San Joaquin: the destinations
Where San Joaquin clocks in
17% 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.
The distance from San Joaquin to work
About 40% 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.
Services make up most of the work in San Joaquin
643 jobs are based in San Joaquin.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Joaquin, 2013 → 2023: 725 → 643. 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 Joaquin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves San Joaquin for work, and who comes in
On a workday 552 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 616 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 (1.11 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.
San Joaquin’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Joaquin workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 747 commuters (the 8% 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.
In San Joaquin, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Joaquin is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #650 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 810 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). 4.2% of San Joaquin households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of San Joaquin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where San Joaquin sits among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | Emerald Lake Hills CA | 4,235 | $250K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,241 | Cherokee Village AR | 4,981 | $37K | 17.0% | 16.8% | 7% | D− |
| 4,242 | Oasis CA | 4,051 | $39K | 34.7% | 16.3% | 5% | D− |
| 4,243 | San Joaquin CA | 3,688 | $43K | 41.0% | 19.3% | 5% | D− |
| 4,244 | Louisiana MO | 3,208 | $39K | 31.7% | 8.6% | 24% | D− |
| 4,245 | Hobart OK | 3,257 | $33K | 30.1% | 7.0% | 37% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 San Joaquin, 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 Joaquin: questions
What is the median household income in San Joaquin?
$43,011 (±$24,570) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Joaquin?
41.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Joaquin?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Joaquin work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (17%, 25 mi), Kerman (4%, 11 mi), Visalia (3%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is San Joaquin walkable?
San Joaquin is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Joaquin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Joaquin, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Joaquin
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.