Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Making a living in Chico
Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers (Texas 14%). The two grades for Chico are C+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 2% work in Chico; the top destination outside it is Fort Worth (10%, 44 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Chico: the figures worth knowing
Chico’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Chico is Fort Worth, 44 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (41) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Chico than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Chico fell from 735 in 2013 to 368 in 2023, −50%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; with 408 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Chico’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Chico is better than 39% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Chico’s grade up ($75,739, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (14.7%) is left out: Chico’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Chico could be anywhere from C− to B.
How many miles Chico commutes
About 38% 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.
66% of the jobs in Chico pay over $3,333 a month
368 jobs are based in Chico.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chico, 2013 → 2023: 735 → 368. 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 Chico’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Chico
On a workday 399 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 359 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 (0.90 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.
The places Chico commutes to
Where Chico clocks in
10% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
The trip to work from Chico: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chico workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 564 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 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.
Few in Chico walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chico is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Chico 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 613 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.6% of Chico households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chico’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Chico is 1,692nd among 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Seis Lagos TX | 1,391 | $249K | 1.2% | 4.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Rollingwood TX | 1,466 | $240K | 4.6% | 2.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Serenada TX | 1,444 | $155K | 1.5% | 2.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,690 | Black River NY | 1,208 | $87K | 11.8% | 19.8% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,691 | Millbrook NY | 1,442 | $74K | 12.6% | 2.7% | 12% | C+ |
| 1,692 | Chico TX | 1,116 | $76K | 10.5% | 14.7% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,693 | Chatham VA | 1,191 | $59K | 7.8% | 3.3% | 17% | C+ |
| 1,694 | Barnum Township MN | 1,127 | $88K | 13.1% | 5.3% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Chico, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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 Chico: questions
What is the median household income in Chico?
$75,739 (±$4,775) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chico?
10.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chico?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chico work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Worth (10%, 44 mi), Bridgeport (9%, 6 mi), Decatur (7%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chico walkable?
Chico is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chico without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chico, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chico
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.