Photo: Fruitianslip · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Selma (13.3%) is higher than in 98% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 4% of workers, where California as a whole has 17%. Selma grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 5.7 in Fresno.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Selma apart on work
Selma and Fresno trade workers both ways
Fresno is the top workplace for Selma residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Selma come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Selma 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 ↓
Commutes from Selma are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 38 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Selma
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Selma is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #701 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Selma’s grade up (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Selma could be anywhere from C− to C.
25% of working residents work in Fresno
Where Selma clocks in
25% of workers
4% of workers
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.
Getting to work from Selma takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Selma workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 9,804 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.
The daily flow of workers through Selma
On a workday 7,822 residents head out to work, 1,073 work right here, and 5,066 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Selma on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.69 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 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Selma: what the 6,139 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Selma, 2013 → 2023: 4,698 → 6,139. 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 Selma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Selma works
About 20% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Selma
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Selma is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #406 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.8% 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 10,233 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 63% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 7% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 44% 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). 5.0% of Selma households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Selma’s commuters take a bus or train.
Selma is 1,470th of 1,642 U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 138 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,468 | Maple Heights OH | 22,902 | $53K | 25.4% | 11.6% | 3% | C− |
| 1,469 | Chambersburg PA | 23,376 | $57K | 15.3% | 7.8% | 27% | C− |
| 1,470 | Selma CA | 24,702 | $60K | 19.0% | 13.3% | 12% | C− |
| 1,471 | Moscow ID | 26,721 | $57K | 25.1% | 7.9% | 49% | C− |
| 1,472 | East Chicago IN | 25,610 | $42K | 26.3% | 7.7% | 16% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Selma, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to Selma
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Kingsburg. Darker towns draw more of Selma’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 Selma: questions
What is the median household income in Selma?
$60,241 (±$6,131) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Selma?
19.0%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Selma?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Selma work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (25%, 18 mi), Kingsburg (4%, 4 mi), Visalia (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Selma walkable?
Selma is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Selma without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 7% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Selma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Selma
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.