With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Waterford works elsewhere
865 jobs are based in Waterford, and 3,803 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Waterford C; getting around on foot earns it B+. Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers; California has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Waterford: the gist
Waterford and Modesto trade workers both ways
Modesto is the top workplace for Waterford residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Waterford come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Waterford is a place people come home to
There are 865 jobs based in Waterford, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Waterford has about 6,300 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Waterford has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Waterford went from 616 in 2013 to 865 in 2023, +40%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Waterford
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waterford is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #626 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Waterford’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.9%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waterford could be anywhere from D to B+.
Commuting out of Waterford: the destinations
Where Waterford clocks in
17% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Who commutes out of Waterford, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,646 residents head out to work, 157 work right here, and 708 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,300 people are in Waterford on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
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 Waterford: what the 865 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterford, 2013 → 2023: 616 → 865. 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 Waterford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Waterford: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterford workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,576 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.
How far it is to work from Waterford
About 30% 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 trips from Waterford start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waterford is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #522 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% 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 3,755 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 68% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 14% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 3.8% of Waterford households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waterford’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 6,500 to 12,500, Waterford ranks 2,116th of 2,841 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,114 | Miles City MT | 8,450 | $68K | 11.4% | 3.9% | 58% | C |
| 2,115 | Los Fresnos TX | 8,703 | $62K | 34.7% | 3.6% | 14% | C |
| 2,116 | Waterford CA | 9,258 | $74K | 13.9% | 7.9% | 4% | C |
| 2,117 | Rockport TX | 11,348 | $72K | 11.9% | 6.1% | 26% | C |
| 2,118 | McCook NE | 7,157 | $57K | 17.3% | 1.4% | 58% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,841 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Waterford, 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 Waterford: questions
What is the median household income in Waterford?
$74,343 (±$18,660) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterford?
13.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterford?
28 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterford work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Modesto (17%, 14 mi), Turlock (5%, 11 mi), Ceres (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waterford walkable?
Waterford is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 14% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterford
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.