Household incomes in Chico top those of 94% of U.S. towns
13% of workers have no commute at all, next to 20% for Washington as a whole. Below the poverty line: 1.7% of residents, where Washington as a whole has 9.9%. The two grades for Chico are A for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chico at work: what stands out
How Chico earns its Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Chico’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 42% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chico could be anywhere from A to A+.
Chico by day and by night
On a workday 955 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 180 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,600 people are in Chico on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
0.20 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.
16% of working residents work in Silverdale
Where Chico clocks in
15% of workers
15% 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.
In Chico, 55% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
191 jobs are based in Chico.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chico, 2013 → 2023: 127 → 191. 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 trip from Chico: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chico workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,360 commuters (the 13% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from Chico
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.
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 40% of U.S. towns, #235 of 285 in Washington. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.9% across Washington, on an EPA index of 4.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,560 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 12% 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 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 1.1% of Chico households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Chico’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500, Chico comes 265th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Larch Way WA | 4,424 | $160K | 1.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 263 | Sylvan Township MI | 3,545 | $103K | 2.0% | 2.2% | 2% | A |
| 264 | Taylor Creek OH | 4,253 | $99K | 3.7% | 2.2% | 2% | A |
| 265 | Chico WA | 3,336 | $141K | 1.7% | 0.9% | 1% | A |
| 266 | St. Joseph IL | 3,689 | $121K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 9% | A |
| 267 | Millville MA | 3,186 | $127K | 4.6% | 3.0% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | 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 Chico, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
The towns next door employ 16% of Chico
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Chico workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chico | – | A | C+ | 25 min | $140,500 |
| Kitsap Lake | under 2% | B | B | 24 min | $100,602 |
| Erlands Point | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Silverdale | 16% | B | A | 24 min | $105,483 |
Same-state neighbors only. Erlands Point: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Silverdale. Darker towns draw more of Chico’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 Chico: questions
What is the median household income in Chico?
$140,500 (±$29,789) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chico?
1.7%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chico?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chico work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Silverdale (16%, 4 mi), Seattle (15%, 17 mi), Bremerton (15%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chico walkable?
Chico is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chico without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
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.