Work & commute · Costa Mesa

Work & commute in Costa Mesa, CA

Most working residents leave Costa Mesa for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Irvine (14%), Newport Beach (11%) and Santa Ana (6%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

6,274 of 47,409 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 41,135 Costa Mesa residents head out of town to work, 6,274 work right here, and 74,461 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Costa Mesa.

41,135live here, work elsewhere

6,274live and work here

74,461work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Costa Mesa goes to work

Irvine8.2 mi away

14%6,837

Costa Mesa (in town)right here

13%6,274

Newport Beach3.8 mi away

11%5,107

Santa Ana5.2 mi away

6%3,037

Los Angeles37.6 mi away

6%2,762

Huntington Beach5.7 mi away

4%1,857

Orange8.9 mi away

3%1,530

Anaheim15.8 mi away

3%1,512

Tustin7.4 mi away

2%1,018

San Diego73.6 mi away

2%872

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%16,603

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

How far

How far Costa Mesa commutes

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

55%

20%

15%

10%

55%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Costa Mesa is a job hub

1.70jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Costa Mesa are

80,735 jobs are based in Costa Mesa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Costa Mesa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Costa Mesa

80,735 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Costa Mesa residents hold

47,409 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+5%

Jobs based in Costa Mesa, 2013 → 2023: 76,926 → 80,735. 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.