Hyde House · Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0More people are out of work in Visalia (6.9%) than in 82% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 8% of workers; California has 17%. Visalia grades B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About two in five stay in Visalia for work; outside it, Fresno is the main destination (6%, 41 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Visalia, in brief
The four measures behind Visalia’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Visalia is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #537 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Visalia’s grade up (ahead of 68% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Visalia could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Time on the road from Visalia: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Visalia workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 57,724 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Visalia
On a workday 29,746 residents head out to work, 23,778 work right here, and 37,867 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 (1.15 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 towns that employ Visalia’s residents
Where Visalia clocks in
6% of workers
6% 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.
The kinds of work in Visalia
61,645 jobs are based in Visalia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Visalia, 2013 → 2023: 47,916 → 61,645. 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 Visalia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Visalia’s commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
The commute in Visalia is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Visalia is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #550 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% 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 62,775 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 40% 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). 3.5% of Visalia households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Visalia’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
For jobs and income, Visalia is 158th of 238 U.S. towns of 103,000 to 198,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carmel IN | 105,634 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 2 | Clay Township IN | 104,932 | $142K | 3.9% | 2.7% | 23% | A+ |
| 3 | Fishers IN | 104,812 | $130K | 4.0% | 2.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | San Mateo CA | 103,337 | $154K | 8.2% | 4.6% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 156 | Abilene TX | 131,588 | $63K | 16.1% | 3.0% | 62% | B− |
| 157 | Lakeland FL | 125,520 | $64K | 13.2% | 4.5% | 32% | B− |
| 158 | Visalia CA | 146,541 | $82K | 11.5% | 6.9% | 44% | B− |
| 159 | Provo UT | 114,527 | $64K | 23.0% | 5.1% | 30% | B− |
| 160 | Hollywood FL | 157,019 | $67K | 14.7% | 6.5% | 13% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 238 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Visalia, the top three, the last and three more from California.
How Visalia compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Visalia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visalia | – | B− | B+ | 23 min | $81,989 |
| Patterson Tract | under 2% | B+ | D− | 28 min | $95,658 |
| Goshen | under 2% | C− | D | 22 min | $73,125 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Visalia’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 Visalia: questions
What is the median household income in Visalia?
$81,989 (±$3,274) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Visalia?
11.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Visalia?
23 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Visalia work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fresno (6%, 41 mi), Tulare (6%, 9 mi), Hanford (2%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Visalia walkable?
Visalia is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Visalia without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Visalia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Visalia
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.