Photo: Mfwills · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Bakersfield commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Only 2% work in Bakersfield; the top destination outside it is St. Albans (14%, 15 miles). Bakersfield has 91 jobs, and 541 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Bakersfield are C+ for jobs and income and D− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Bakersfield, in brief
Bakersfield is a place people come home to
There are 91 jobs based in Bakersfield, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Bakersfield has about 860 people in it, 34% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Bakersfield workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 24 across Vermont. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical 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; with 541 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Bakersfield
On income, poverty and job access, Bakersfield is better than 43% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Bakersfield’s grade up (7.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 9% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (4.9%) is left out: Bakersfield’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, Bakersfield could be anywhere from C− to B.
How a workday changes Bakersfield
On a workday 528 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 78 people come in from elsewhere.
About 860 people are in Bakersfield on a workday afternoon, 34% 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.
How long Bakersfield spends getting to work: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bakersfield workers work from home, vs 17% across Vermont. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 503 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Vermont: 82% 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.
Where Bakersfield’s working residents head each day
Where Bakersfield clocks in
8% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 67% of the jobs in Bakersfield
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bakersfield, 2013 → 2023: 97 → 91. 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 Bakersfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Bakersfield, by distance
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.
The commute in Bakersfield is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bakersfield is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Bakersfield 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 586 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). 2.9% of Bakersfield households have no vehicle (Vermont 6.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bakersfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800, Bakersfield comes 2,247th on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 531 | South Hero VT | 1,726 | $127K | 3.5% | 5.9% | 7% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 603 | Bolton VT | 1,277 | $111K | 2.9% | 1.1% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 779 | Cornwall VT | 1,290 | $115K | 0.8% | 7.4% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,245 | Bennington Township KS | 1,269 | $86K | 8.6% | 2.7% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,246 | Turtle Creek Township OH | 1,555 | $84K | 15.8% | 3.9% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,247 | Bakersfield VT | 1,307 | $83K | 7.3% | 4.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,248 | Blue Mound IL | 1,078 | $70K | 8.7% | 5.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,249 | Conway Springs KS | 1,141 | $73K | 11.2% | 2.2% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | 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 Bakersfield, the top three, the last and three more from Vermont.
Bakersfield and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Fairfield (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bakersfield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakersfield | – | C+ | D− | 33 min | $83,462 |
| Enosburgh | under 4% | C | B+ | 32 min | $63,828 |
| Fairfield | 4% | B | C+ | 24 min | $87,019 |
| Waterville | under 4% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Fletcher | under 4% | B | C− | 32 min | $105,833 |
| Belvidere | under 4% | — | — | 38 min | — |
| Montgomery | under 4% | D | C+ | 37 min | $53,289 |
Same-state neighbors only. Waterville and Belvidere: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bakersfield’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 Bakersfield: questions
What is the median household income in Bakersfield?
$83,462 (±$18,450) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $81,203 across Vermont and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bakersfield?
7.3%, against 10.1% across Vermont and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bakersfield?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Vermont and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bakersfield work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Albans (14%, 15 mi), St. Albans (10%, 18 mi), Burlington (8%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bakersfield walkable?
Bakersfield is more walkable than 4% of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 4.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bakersfield 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 Bakersfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bakersfield
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.