Photo: NoeHill · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Willows (8.4%) is higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 8% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #797 of 847 in California.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns · #553 of 847 in California.
Household incomes here are lower than in 67% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 24 minutes each way (California 29, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Willows; the top destination outside it is Chico (7%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Willows
Willows trades workers with the towns around it
Willows has about as many jobs (2,413) as working residents (2,413), but they are mostly different people: 1,848 residents leave for work each day while 1,848 people come in. Only 23% of the jobs in Willows are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
No single place dominates Willows’ commute
The biggest draw, Chico, gets only 7% of working residents, and 55% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Willows residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Willows are quick
The average trip to work takes 24 minutes, against 29 across California. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical California worker. 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.
What’s behind Willows’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Willows is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #797 of 847 in California. Household income holds Willows’ grade up ($64,068, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (8.4%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Willows could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 1,848 residents head out to work, 565 work right here, and 1,848 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 (1.00 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.
7% of working residents work in Chico
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Willows clocks in
7% of workers
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 24 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 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Willows workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,484 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
What the 2,413 jobs in Willows are
2,413 jobs are based in Willows. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Willows’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Willows, 2013 → 2023: 2,503 → 2,413. 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.
Half of Willows commutes less than 20 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
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.
Most trips from Willows start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Willows is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #553 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Willows 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 2,683 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.4% of Willows households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Willows’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Willows compares with U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Willows, the top three, the last and three more from California.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,166 | Lexington TN | 8,130 | $49K | 18.4% | 8.3% | 37% | D |
| 3,167 | Lanett AL | 6,781 | $42K | 19.1% | 7.3% | 7% | D |
| 3,168 | Willows CA | 6,116 | $64K | 19.3% | 8.4% | 23% | D |
| 3,169 | Hugo OK | 5,082 | $34K | 29.9% | 4.4% | 31% | D |
| 3,170 | Pleasant Township OH | 5,671 | $50K | 30.3% | 4.7% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | 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.
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 Willows: questions
What is the median household income in Willows?
$64,068 (±$18,043) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Willows?
19.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Willows?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Willows work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chico (7%, 26 mi), Orland (3%, 16 mi), Sacramento (3%, 76 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Willows walkable?
Willows is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Willows without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Willows, from the people who make the trip.
More of Willows
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.