Work & commute · Blue Lake

Work & commute in Blue Lake, CA

Most working residents leave Blue Lake for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Eureka (25%), Arcata (22%) and McKinleyville (7%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

6 of 309 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

14 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 303 Blue Lake residents head out of town to work, 6 work right here, and 190 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Blue Lake.

303live here, work elsewhere

6live and work here

190work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Blue Lake goes to work

Eureka10.1 mi away

25%78

Arcata4.4 mi away

22%67

McKinleyville6.6 mi away

7%21

Fieldbrook6.8 mi away

3%9

Sacramento208.7 mi away

3%8

Blue Lake (in town)right here

2%6

Redding87.8 mi away

2%5

Myrtletown9.6 mi away

2%5

Hoopa20.7 mi away

2%5

Trinidad14.5 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%102

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Blue Lake commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

46%

28%

23%

46%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Blue Lake is a commuter town

0.63jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.63 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Blue Lake are

196 jobs are based in Blue Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Blue Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Blue Lake

196 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities4%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month44%

Over $3,333 a month37%

Jobs Blue Lake residents hold

309 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+43%

Jobs based in Blue Lake, 2013 → 2023: 137 → 196. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.