Households in Woodlake have lower incomes than those in 92% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Woodlake itself; outside it, Visalia draws the most (24%, 14 miles). 25.3% of residents are in poverty; California has 12.0%. Jobs and income earn Woodlake D; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Woodlake and work: the main findings
Woodlake makes and builds things
52% of the jobs based in Woodlake are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Woodlake residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Woodlake has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Woodlake went from 1,041 in 2014 to 1,669 in 2024, +60%. The jobs ↓
Woodlake and Visalia trade workers both ways
Visalia is the top workplace for Woodlake residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Woodlake come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Woodlake pay little
30% of the jobs based in Woodlake pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Woodlake 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 2024, 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Woodlake
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Woodlake is better than 6% of U.S. towns, #808 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Woodlake’s grade up (ahead of 41% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (11.0%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Woodlake could be anywhere from D− to D.
Goods jobs make up 52% of work in Woodlake
1,669 jobs are based in Woodlake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Woodlake, 2014 → 2024: 1,041 → 1,669. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Woodlake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Woodlake’s residents
Where Woodlake clocks in
24% of workers
7% 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.
Woodlake’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Woodlake workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,489 commuters (the 10% 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 daily commute in and out of Woodlake
On a workday 2,409 residents head out to work, 385 work right here, and 1,284 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Woodlake on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.60 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 2024, primary jobs.
Half of Woodlake commutes less than 16 miles
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The commute in Woodlake is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Woodlake is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #699 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 2,767 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 under 0.1 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). 6.9% of Woodlake households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Woodlake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Woodlake and other U.S. towns of 5,700 to 10,900
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Gold River CA | 7,924 | $175K | 2.9% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,862 | Idabel OK | 6,934 | $43K | 25.1% | 5.4% | 32% | D |
| 2,863 | Calumet Township MI | 6,309 | $53K | 16.4% | 7.5% | 30% | D |
| 2,864 | Woodlake CA | 8,073 | $46K | 25.3% | 11.0% | 14% | D |
| 2,865 | Kosciusko MS | 6,722 | $40K | 25.7% | 5.5% | 27% | D |
| 2,866 | Belen NM | 7,589 | $43K | 31.2% | 8.0% | 16% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,966 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Woodlake, 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 2024, 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 Woodlake: questions
What is the median household income in Woodlake?
$46,266 (±$4,658) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Woodlake?
25.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Woodlake?
24 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Woodlake work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Visalia (24%, 14 mi), Fresno (7%, 46 mi), Exeter (2%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Woodlake walkable?
Woodlake is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Woodlake without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Woodlake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Woodlake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.