At 10.4%, unemployment in Ridgecrest is higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns. The two grades for Ridgecrest are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 6% of workers, where Florida as a whole has 16%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ridgecrest and work: the main findings
Ridgecrest is a place people come home to
There are 96 jobs based in Ridgecrest, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Ridgecrest has about 2,300 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Ridgecrest and Largo trade workers both ways
Largo is the top workplace for Ridgecrest residents (17%) and also where the most people who work in Ridgecrest come from (16% of its jobs). 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Ridgecrest
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ridgecrest is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #570 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Ridgecrest’s grade up (ahead of 86% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ridgecrest could be anywhere from D to A−.
The daily commute in and out of Ridgecrest
On a workday 1,329 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 89 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Ridgecrest on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
0.07 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.
17% of working residents work in Largo
Where Ridgecrest clocks in
17% of workers
12% of workers
11% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Ridgecrest
96 jobs are based in Ridgecrest.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ridgecrest, 2013 → 2023: 73 → 96. 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 Ridgecrest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Ridgecrest, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ridgecrest workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,254 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ridgecrest
About 17% 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.
Driving is how Ridgecrest gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ridgecrest is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #354 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,339 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, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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 Ridgecrest households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Ridgecrest’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ridgecrest is 3,508th of 4,355 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Bay Hill FL | 4,512 | $128K | 0.7% | 1.5% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 83 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,506 | Montgomery City MO | 2,782 | $58K | 17.7% | 3.9% | 24% | C− |
| 3,507 | Burnettown SC | 3,267 | $50K | 19.6% | 6.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,508 | Ridgecrest FL | 3,571 | $50K | 21.1% | 10.4% | 1% | C− |
| 3,509 | Shelby MT | 3,313 | $58K | 13.8% | 3.7% | 41% | C− |
| 3,510 | Auburn NE | 3,498 | $58K | 14.1% | 4.1% | 32% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Ridgecrest, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Work next door: 17% of Ridgecrest’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ridgecrest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgecrest | – | C− | B | 24 min | $50,428 |
| Largo | 17% | B− | A− | 25 min | $62,096 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Largo. Darker towns draw more of Ridgecrest’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 Ridgecrest: questions
What is the median household income in Ridgecrest?
$50,428 (±$18,750) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ridgecrest?
21.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ridgecrest?
24 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ridgecrest work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Largo (17%, 2 mi), Clearwater (12%, 7 mi), St. Petersburg (11%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ridgecrest walkable?
Ridgecrest is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 11.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ridgecrest without a car?
1% 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 Ridgecrest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ridgecrest
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.