Work & commute · Carson

Work & commute in Carson, CA

Most working residents leave Carson for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Los Angeles (25%), Torrance (9%) and Long Beach (7%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2,834 of 40,964 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

28 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 38,130 Carson residents head out of town to work, 2,834 work right here, and 49,894 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Carson.

38,130live here, work elsewhere

2,834live and work here

49,894work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Carson goes to work

Los Angeles15.4 mi away

25%10,211

Torrance6.2 mi away

9%3,821

Long Beach6.2 mi away

7%3,064

Carson (in town)right here

7%2,834

El Segundo11.2 mi away

2%979

Compton3.9 mi away

1%554

San Diego95.5 mi away

1%545

Gardena5 mi away

1%539

Irvine29.7 mi away

1%519

Hawthorne7.6 mi away

1%489

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%17,409

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

How far

How far Carson commutes

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

47%

34%

10%

47%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Carson is balanced between jobs and homes

1.29jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Carson are

52,728 jobs are based in Carson. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Carson’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Carson

52,728 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities38%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Carson residents hold

40,964 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month65%

+10%

Jobs based in Carson, 2013 → 2023: 47,896 → 52,728. 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.