Work & commute · Brea

Work & commute in Brea, CA

Most working residents leave Brea for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Anaheim (8%), Los Angeles (7%) and Fullerton (6%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,905 of 21,863 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 19,958 Brea residents head out of town to work, 1,905 work right here, and 41,700 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Brea.

19,958live here, work elsewhere

1,905live and work here

41,700work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Brea goes to work

Brea (in town)right here

9%1,905

Anaheim7.8 mi away

8%1,707

Los Angeles31.9 mi away

7%1,587

Fullerton4.5 mi away

6%1,301

Irvine17.9 mi away

5%1,151

Santa Ana13.1 mi away

4%903

Orange9.6 mi away

4%819

La Habra5 mi away

2%406

Industry8.2 mi away

2%355

Long Beach20 mi away

2%343

Everywhere elseother towns and states

52%11,386

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

How far

How far Brea commutes

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

39%

42%

11%

39%Under 10 mi

42%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Brea is a job hub

1.99jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Brea are

43,605 jobs are based in Brea. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brea’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Brea

43,605 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Brea residents hold

21,863 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month69%

−9%

Jobs based in Brea, 2013 → 2023: 47,868 → 43,605. 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.