Work & commute · Taft

Work & commute in Taft, CA

About one in 4 of Taft’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Bakersfield (17%), Los Angeles (4%) and South Taft (2%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

28%

759 of 2,748 working residents

Typical commute

27 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 1,989 Taft residents head out of town to work, 759 work right here, and 2,388 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Taft.

1,989live here, work elsewhere

759live and work here

2,388work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Taft goes to work

Taft (in town)right here

28%759

Bakersfield26.8 mi away

17%466

Los Angeles95.8 mi away

4%106

South Taft1.9 mi away

2%56

Rosedale21.9 mi away

2%42

Ford City3.3 mi away

1%41

Fresno116.3 mi away

1%35

Shafter27.4 mi away

1%34

Visalia83.3 mi away

1%31

Maricopa5.3 mi away

1%25

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%1,153

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

How far

How far Taft commutes

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

34%

10%

23%

32%

34%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

23%25–50 mi

32%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Taft is balanced between jobs and homes

1.15jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Taft are

3,147 jobs are based in Taft. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Taft’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Taft

3,147 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Taft residents hold

2,748 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−6%

Jobs based in Taft, 2013 → 2023: 3,332 → 3,147. 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.