Work & commute · Foster

Work & commute in Foster, CA

Most working residents leave Foster for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are San Francisco (18%), San Mateo (8%) and Redwood City (5%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,383 of 17,342 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

34%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 15,959 Foster residents head out of town to work, 1,383 work right here, and 17,933 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Foster.

15,959live here, work elsewhere

1,383live and work here

17,933work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Foster goes to work

San Francisco44.2 mi away

18%3,103

San Mateo3.3 mi away

8%1,469

Foster City (in town)right here

8%1,383

Redwood City4 mi away

5%927

San Jose30.3 mi away

5%787

South San Francisco9.3 mi away

4%775

Palo Alto13 mi away

4%673

Menlo Park8.1 mi away

4%633

Mountain View14.8 mi away

3%558

Sunnyvale17.4 mi away

3%460

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%6,574

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

How far

How far Foster commutes

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

38%

49%

38%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Foster is balanced between jobs and homes

1.11jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.11 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Foster are

19,316 jobs are based in Foster. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Foster’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Foster

19,316 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month10%

Over $3,333 a month86%

Jobs Foster residents hold

17,342 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month10%

Over $3,333 a month83%

−6%

Jobs based in Foster, 2013 → 2023: 20,528 → 19,316. 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.