Photo: JMora24 · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Tulare (8.6%) is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
5% of workers have no commute at all (California 17%). For jobs and income Tulare is better than 26% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (B−). About one in four work in Tulare; the top destination outside it is Visalia (23%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Tulare stands out on work
Tulare and Visalia trade workers both ways
Visalia is the top workplace for Tulare residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Tulare come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Tulare are quick
The average trip to work takes 23 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 46 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.
Inside Tulare’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Tulare’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Tulare could be anywhere from C− to C.
Where the trip to work from Tulare ends
Where Tulare clocks in
23% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
About 23 minutes each way for Tulare’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Tulare workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 26,840 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.
Tulare by day and by night
On a workday 18,718 residents head out to work, 5,623 work right here, and 11,019 people come in from elsewhere.
About 66,000 people are in Tulare on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.68 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 Tulare: what the 16,642 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Tulare, 2013 → 2023: 15,099 → 16,642. 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 Tulare’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Tulare’s workers travel
About 22% 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.
Most of Tulare commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 28,366 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). 3.9% of Tulare households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Tulare’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 52,000 to 100,000, and where Tulare sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 539 | Harlingen TX | 72,467 | $54K | 25.1% | 5.2% | 41% | C |
| 540 | Lauderhill FL | 75,668 | $51K | 19.4% | 8.5% | 3% | C |
| 541 | Tulare CA | 73,907 | $72K | 17.9% | 8.6% | 23% | C |
| 542 | Casa Grande AZ | 69,753 | $70K | 13.5% | 6.1% | 23% | C |
| 543 | Scranton PA | 75,514 | $51K | 23.0% | 5.4% | 31% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 592 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Tulare, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Tulare and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Tulare workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare | – | C | B− | 23 min | $72,410 |
| Matheny | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Matheny: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Tulare’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 Tulare: questions
What is the median household income in Tulare?
$72,410 (±$3,761) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Tulare?
17.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Tulare?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Tulare work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Visalia (23%, 9 mi), Fresno (4%, 48 mi), Porterville (2%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Tulare walkable?
Tulare is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Tulare without a car?
1% 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 Tulare, from the people who make the trip.
More of Tulare
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.