Photo: Flickr user MiguelVieira · CC BY 2.0At 9.4%, unemployment in Sutter Creek is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 17.5 in Los Angeles. The two grades for Sutter Creek are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For 8% of workers, the job is at home, against 17% across California.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sutter Creek: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Sutter Creek are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% 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 ↓
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’s behind Sutter Creek’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sutter Creek is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #642 of 847 in California. The poverty rate holds Sutter Creek’s grade up (7.1%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sutter Creek could be anywhere from D to B+.
Sutter Creek’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sutter Creek workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,159 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.
How far Sutter Creek goes to work
About 35% 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.
Who works in Sutter Creek, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,175 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 827 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Sutter Creek on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.71 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.
10% of working residents work in Jackson
Where Sutter Creek clocks in
10% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
Inside Sutter Creek’s 872 jobs
872 jobs are based in Sutter Creek.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sutter Creek, 2013 → 2023: 859 → 872. 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 Sutter Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Sutter Creek is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sutter Creek is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #355 of 847 in California. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 7.1% across California, on an EPA index of 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,259 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 7% 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 2.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 0.0% of Sutter Creek households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Sutter Creek’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Sutter Creek ranks: 3,166th of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Harmony Grove CA | 2,585 | $227K | 4.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Ross CA | 2,304 | $250K | 4.8% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Fairbanks Ranch CA | 2,703 | $250K | 5.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,164 | Ford River Township MI | 2,014 | $70K | 7.9% | 5.8% | 1% | C |
| 3,165 | Bonny Doon CA | 3,149 | $145K | 16.2% | 8.0% | 2% | C |
| 3,166 | Sutter Creek CA | 2,701 | $88K | 7.1% | 9.4% | 4% | C |
| 3,167 | Nanty-Glo PA | 2,413 | $52K | 19.5% | 2.4% | 8% | C |
| 3,168 | Estill Springs TN | 2,692 | $59K | 13.6% | 3.9% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Sutter Creek, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Around Sutter Creek: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Martell (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sutter Creek workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutter Creek | – | C | A− | 21 min | $88,478 |
| Martell | 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Martell: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sutter Creek’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 Sutter Creek: questions
What is the median household income in Sutter Creek?
$88,478 (±$18,862) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sutter Creek?
7.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sutter Creek?
21 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sutter Creek work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (10%, 3 mi), Sacramento (6%, 38 mi), Ione (5%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sutter Creek walkable?
Sutter Creek is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sutter Creek without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sutter Creek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sutter Creek
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.