Photo: City of Ukiah - Dept. of Recreation · Public domainAt 9.6%, unemployment in Ukiah is higher than in 93% of U.S. towns
At home: 8% of workers have no commute at all (California 17%). The two grades for Ukiah are C− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 17.5 in Los Angeles.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Ukiah
Commutes from Ukiah are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. Time on the road ↓
Ukiah draws workers from far and wide
The 8,468 jobs in Ukiah are filled from a wide area. Ukiah’s own residents hold 27% and the ten next-biggest home towns 14%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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 Ukiah’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ukiah is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #752 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Ukiah’s grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ukiah could be anywhere from D to C.
Commuting from Ukiah: about 19 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ukiah workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,101 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.
5% of working residents work in Santa Rosa
Where Ukiah clocks in
5% of workers
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.
Ukiah on a workday afternoon
On a workday 3,641 residents head out to work, 2,289 work right here, and 6,179 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Ukiah on a workday afternoon, 16% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
The 8,468 jobs based in Ukiah
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ukiah, 2013 → 2023: 6,904 → 8,468. 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 Ukiah’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Ukiah to work
About 28% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Ukiah
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ukiah is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns, #69 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Ukiah near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,655 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 59% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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). 15.5% of Ukiah households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Ukiah’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ukiah next to U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 105 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 143 | Coto de Caza CA | 15,190 | $244K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,050 | Poplar Bluff MO | 16,295 | $42K | 20.8% | 4.9% | 50% | C− |
| 2,051 | Flowing Wells AZ | 16,559 | $40K | 24.0% | 8.9% | 4% | C− |
| 2,052 | Ukiah CA | 16,068 | $66K | 17.9% | 9.6% | 39% | C− |
| 2,053 | East St. Louis IL | 17,682 | $36K | 32.8% | 17.3% | 9% | C− |
| 2,054 | Camp Verde AZ | 12,581 | $69K | 15.5% | 5.8% | 30% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | 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 Ukiah, 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 Ukiah: questions
What is the median household income in Ukiah?
$66,160 (±$6,935) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ukiah?
17.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ukiah?
19 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ukiah work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Santa Rosa (5%, 55 mi), Willits (2%, 20 mi), Talmage (1%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ukiah walkable?
Ukiah is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.8 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ukiah without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 59% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ukiah, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ukiah
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.