Work & commute · Shafter

Work & commute in Shafter, CA

Most working residents leave Shafter for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Bakersfield (23%), Wasco (4%) and Delano (3%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

1,218 of 7,032 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,814 Shafter residents head out of town to work, 1,218 work right here, and 10,456 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Shafter.

5,814live here, work elsewhere

1,218live and work here

10,456work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Shafter goes to work

Bakersfield12.7 mi away

23%1,624

Shafter (in town)right here

17%1,218

Wasco12.2 mi away

4%307

Delano20.1 mi away

3%202

Los Angeles110.4 mi away

2%145

Oildale10.2 mi away

2%120

Rosedale6.3 mi away

2%115

Fresno96 mi away

1%82

Visalia59.1 mi away

1%70

McFarland13.1 mi away

1%65

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%3,084

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

How far

How far Shafter commutes

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

33%

37%

24%

33%Under 10 mi

37%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Shafter is a job hub

1.66jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Shafter are

11,674 jobs are based in Shafter. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Shafter’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Shafter

11,674 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities48%

Services (health, schools, offices…)16%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Shafter residents hold

7,032 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+113%

Jobs based in Shafter, 2013 → 2023: 5,490 → 11,674. 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.