Weedpatch Camp · Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Weedpatch’s household incomes are among the lowest in the country
Jobs & income D: better than 11% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access · #772 of 847 in California.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns · #716 of 847 in California.
Working residents average 26 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in Weedpatch; the top destination outside it is Bakersfield (26%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Weedpatch
Weedpatch and Bakersfield trade workers both ways
Bakersfield is the top workplace for Weedpatch residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Weedpatch come from (39% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
Few Weedpatch workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 17% across California. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 588 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Weedpatch’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Weedpatch is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #772 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Weedpatch’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($22,044, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (22.0%) is left out: Weedpatch’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Weedpatch stays D.
26% of working residents work in Bakersfield
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Weedpatch clocks in
26% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Weedpatch commutes less than 16 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 39% 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.
About 26 minutes each way, quicker than most of California
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Weedpatch workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 716 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Weedpatch quiets down on a workday
On a workday 575 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 298 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,400 people are in Weedpatch on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.53 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.
Weedpatch makes things: 38% of its jobs are in goods
311 jobs are based in Weedpatch. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Weedpatch’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Weedpatch, 2013 → 2023: 264 → 311. 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.
Most trips from Weedpatch start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Weedpatch is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns, #716 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.0% 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 738 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 71% 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). 26.8% of Weedpatch households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Weedpatch’s commuters take a bus or train.
Weedpatch is 4,176th of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Weedpatch, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,174 | Everett Township MI | 1,994 | $57K | 14.1% | 10.7% | 4% | D |
| 4,175 | Sacaton AZ | 3,429 | $49K | 29.3% | 14.0% | 5% | D |
| 4,176 | Weedpatch CA | 2,685 | $22K | 46.5% | 22.0% | 2% | D |
| 4,177 | Tavernier FL | 2,413 | $50K | 17.6% | 4.7% | 8% | D |
| 4,178 | Citrus City TX | 2,395 | $39K | 24.4% | 11.0% | 0% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 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.
Weedpatch and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lamont (3%). Darker towns draw more of Weedpatch’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 Weedpatch: questions
What is the median household income in Weedpatch?
$22,044 (±$7,053) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Weedpatch?
46.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Weedpatch?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Weedpatch work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bakersfield (26%, 11 mi), Los Angeles (7%, 89 mi), Edmundson Acres (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Weedpatch walkable?
Weedpatch is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Weedpatch without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 27% of households have no car. 71% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Weedpatch, from the people who make the trip.
More of Weedpatch
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.