Southern Pacific Railroad Depot, Whittier · Photo: Los Angeles · CC BY-SA 4.0Whittier’s household incomes are higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Whittier B+; getting around on foot earns it A. Below the poverty line: 9.1% of residents, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.6 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 Whittier
Whittier’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Whittier is Los Angeles, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (6,406) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Whittier draws workers from far and wide
The 27,098 jobs in Whittier are filled from a wide area. Whittier’s own residents hold 12% and the ten next-biggest home towns 27%; the other 61% 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.
The figures behind Whittier’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Whittier is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #260 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Whittier’s grade up (ahead of 98% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Whittier could be anywhere from B+ to A−.
Short hops and long hauls from Whittier
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.
16% of working residents work in Los Angeles
Where Whittier clocks in
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.
How a workday changes Whittier
On a workday 35,982 residents head out to work, 3,214 work right here, and 23,884 people come in from elsewhere.
About 74,000 people are in Whittier on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.69 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.
Whittier is a services town
27,098 jobs are based in Whittier.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Whittier, 2013 → 2023: 23,751 → 27,098. 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 Whittier’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 33 minutes to work from Whittier
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Whittier workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 35,039 commuters (the 12% 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.
In Whittier, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Whittier is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #260 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.2% 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 39,763 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 85% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 31% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 64% 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). 6.2% of Whittier households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Whittier’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Whittier is 206th of 534 U.S. towns of 60,000 to 116,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Mountain View CA | 85,438 | $190K | 6.0% | 3.7% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 204 | Hillsboro OR | 111,126 | $106K | 8.5% | 4.8% | 34% | B+ |
| 205 | Appleton WI | 75,452 | $80K | 8.3% | 3.5% | 25% | B+ |
| 206 | Whittier CA | 85,815 | $97K | 9.1% | 5.4% | 8% | B+ |
| 207 | Buena Park CA | 81,741 | $111K | 8.8% | 5.6% | 7% | B+ |
| 208 | Frederick MD | 92,059 | $97K | 9.2% | 3.9% | 24% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 534 | 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 Whittier, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Whittier and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Santa Fe Springs (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Whittier workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whittier | – | B+ | A | 33 min | $97,201 |
| West Whittier-Los Nietos | under 2% | A− | A | 32 min | $111,699 |
| La Habra Heights | under 2% | A+ | B− | 34 min | $179,583 |
| South Whittier | under 2% | B+ | A− | 31 min | $100,800 |
| Pico Rivera | under 2% | B+ | A− | 30 min | $88,201 |
| East Whittier | under 2% | A | B+ | 35 min | $113,750 |
| Santa Fe Springs | 4% | B+ | B+ | 34 min | $88,238 |
| Hacienda Heights | under 2% | B+ | A | 34 min | $109,193 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Whittier’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 Whittier: questions
What is the median household income in Whittier?
$97,201 (±$4,965) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Whittier?
9.1%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Whittier?
33 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Whittier work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (16%, 23 mi), Santa Fe Springs (4%, 3 mi), Anaheim (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Whittier walkable?
Whittier is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Whittier without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 31% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Whittier, from the people who make the trip.
More of Whittier
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.