Work & commute · Half Moon Bay

Work & commute in Half Moon Bay, CA

Most working residents leave Half Moon Bay for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are San Francisco (12%), San Jose (5%) and Palo Alto (4%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

857 of 5,451 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,594 Half Moon Bay residents head out of town to work, 857 work right here, and 3,139 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Half Moon Bay.

4,594live here, work elsewhere

857live and work here

3,139work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Half Moon Bay goes to work

Half Moon Bay (in town)right here

16%857

San Francisco37.1 mi away

12%659

San Jose36.3 mi away

5%281

Palo Alto17 mi away

4%238

San Mateo9.6 mi away

4%229

Redwood City12.8 mi away

4%214

El Granada3.5 mi away

3%169

South San Francisco13.4 mi away

3%160

Menlo Park16 mi away

2%115

Mountain View20.3 mi away

2%113

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%2,416

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

How far

How far Half Moon Bay commutes

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

29%

45%

16%

29%Under 10 mi

45%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Half Moon Bay is a commuter town

0.73jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.73 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Half Moon Bay are

3,996 jobs are based in Half Moon Bay. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Half Moon Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Half Moon Bay

3,996 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Half Moon Bay residents hold

5,451 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+5%

Jobs based in Half Moon Bay, 2013 → 2023: 3,790 → 3,996. 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.