Photo: Jamesb01 (image transferred to Commons by JaumeBG. · CC BY-SA 3.0Wrightwood has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Wrightwood B−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Wrightwood has 366 jobs; 1,180 of its residents have a job. Only 8% work in Wrightwood; the top destination outside it is Los Angeles (6%, 50 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Wrightwood, in brief
Wrightwood workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Wrightwood
61% of Wrightwood residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 38% of the jobs based in Wrightwood pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 92% leave town for their job. 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.
Where Wrightwood’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wrightwood is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #486 of 847 in California. Unemployment holds Wrightwood’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 28% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wrightwood could be anywhere from D to A.
A commute of about 37 minutes in Wrightwood
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wrightwood workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,553 commuters (the 22% 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 Wrightwood, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wrightwood, 2013 → 2023: 377 → 366. 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 Wrightwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Wrightwood, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,091 residents head out to work, 89 work right here, and 277 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Wrightwood on a workday afternoon, 16% 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.
Where the trip to work from Wrightwood ends
Where Wrightwood clocks in
6% 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 far it is to work from Wrightwood
About 22% 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.
Getting around Wrightwood: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wrightwood is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns, #686 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Wrightwood 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 1,994 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 32% 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 0.7 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). 2.3% of Wrightwood households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wrightwood’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wrightwood next to U.S. towns of 3,500 to 6,800: 1,935th of 3,758 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,933 | Auburn IL | 4,442 | $81K | 8.1% | 5.2% | 10% | B− |
| 1,934 | Lyons WI | 3,635 | $84K | 9.8% | 6.0% | 2% | B− |
| 1,935 | Wrightwood CA | 5,067 | $74K | 9.9% | 2.4% | 8% | B− |
| 1,936 | Haleiwa HI | 4,948 | $98K | 9.7% | 4.0% | 5% | B− |
| 1,937 | Malmstrom AFB MT | 4,302 | $65K | 5.8% | 1.8% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,758 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Wrightwood, 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 Wrightwood: questions
What is the median household income in Wrightwood?
$74,332 (±$23,270) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wrightwood?
9.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wrightwood?
37 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wrightwood work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Los Angeles (6%, 50 mi), San Bernardino (6%, 24 mi), Phelan (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wrightwood walkable?
Wrightwood is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wrightwood without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wrightwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wrightwood
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.