Work & commute · Alameda

Work & commute in Alameda, CA

Most working residents leave Alameda for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are San Francisco (21%), Oakland (17%) and Berkeley (3%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

4,564 of 35,516 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

33%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 30,952 Alameda residents head out of town to work, 4,564 work right here, and 25,870 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alameda.

30,952live here, work elsewhere

4,564live and work here

25,870work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alameda goes to work

San Francisco42.2 mi away

21%7,329

Oakland2.7 mi away

17%6,121

Alameda (in town)right here

13%4,564

Berkeley8.8 mi away

3%1,242

San Jose39.3 mi away

3%991

San Leandro6 mi away

2%882

Hayward11.7 mi away

2%711

Fremont24.5 mi away

2%632

Emeryville7.1 mi away

1%481

South San Francisco8.7 mi away

1%472

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%12,091

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

How far

How far Alameda commutes

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

57%

23%

11%

57%Under 10 mi

23%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

11%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alameda is balanced between jobs and homes

0.86jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Alameda are

30,434 jobs are based in Alameda. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alameda’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alameda

30,434 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month73%

Jobs Alameda residents hold

35,516 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month76%

+34%

Jobs based in Alameda, 2013 → 2023: 22,638 → 30,434. 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.