Photo: ShakataGaNai · CC BY 3.0At 9.3%, unemployment in Susanville is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Susanville are D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. 4% of workers have no commute at all, next to 17% for California as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Susanville in brief
Commutes from Susanville are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Susanville go to people who live here
Of the 4,840 jobs based in Susanville, 55% are held by Susanville residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Susanville 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 ↓
Nearly all the work in Susanville is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 3% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Inside Susanville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Susanville is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #806 of 847 in California. Household income holds Susanville’s grade up ($61,641, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Susanville could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The daily trip from Susanville: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Susanville workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,693 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,837 residents head out to work, 2,682 work right here, and 2,158 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 (1.07 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
4,840 jobs are based in Susanville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Susanville, 2013 → 2023: 5,444 → 4,840. 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 Susanville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Susanville goes to work
Where Susanville clocks in
2% of workers
1% 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 commute from Susanville, by distance
About 31% 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.
Susanville is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Susanville is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #389 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,842 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 44% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% 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). 10.7% of Susanville households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Susanville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Susanville and other U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,282 | Pryor Creek OK | 9,723 | $45K | 20.5% | 8.6% | 26% | D |
| 2,283 | Benton Township MI | 14,228 | $39K | 33.1% | 12.1% | 22% | D |
| 2,284 | Susanville CA | 12,816 | $62K | 17.6% | 9.3% | 59% | D |
| 2,285 | McMinnville TN | 13,943 | $47K | 20.7% | 9.0% | 24% | D |
| 2,286 | Kewanee IL | 12,115 | $51K | 17.9% | 8.9% | 39% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | 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 Susanville, 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 Susanville: questions
What is the median household income in Susanville?
$61,641 (±$7,613) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Susanville?
17.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Susanville?
16 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Susanville work?
59% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Redding (2%, 92 mi), Johnstonville (2%, 4 mi), Sacramento (1%, 136 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Susanville walkable?
Susanville is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Susanville without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Susanville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Susanville
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.