Work & commute · Carlsbad

Work & commute in Carlsbad, CA

About one in 5 of Carlsbad’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are San Diego (25%), Encinitas (5%) and Oceanside (5%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22%

10,180 of 45,417 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

32%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 35,237 Carlsbad residents head out of town to work, 10,180 work right here, and 64,470 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Carlsbad.

35,237live here, work elsewhere

10,180live and work here

64,470work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Carlsbad goes to work

San Diego22.7 mi away

25%11,482

Carlsbad (in town)right here

22%10,180

Encinitas5.5 mi away

5%2,375

Oceanside6.8 mi away

5%2,328

Vista5 mi away

4%1,710

San Marcos6.7 mi away

3%1,555

Los Angeles89.4 mi away

3%1,389

Escondido12.2 mi away

2%1,067

Irvine47.2 mi away

2%946

Solana Beach9.6 mi away

1%620

Everywhere elseother towns and states

26%11,765

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

How far

How far Carlsbad commutes

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

42%

26%

11%

21%

42%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Carlsbad is a job hub

1.64jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Carlsbad are

74,650 jobs are based in Carlsbad. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carlsbad’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Carlsbad

74,650 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

Jobs Carlsbad residents hold

45,417 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+23%

Jobs based in Carlsbad, 2013 → 2023: 60,521 → 74,650. 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.