Work & commute · Irvine

Work & commute in Irvine, CA

About one in 3 of Irvine’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Los Angeles (7%), Newport Beach (5%) and Santa Ana (5%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

29%

33,674 of 116,790 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

28%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 83,116 Irvine residents head out of town to work, 33,674 work right here, and 245,935 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Irvine.

83,116live here, work elsewhere

33,674live and work here

245,935work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Irvine goes to work

Irvine (in town)right here

29%33,674

Los Angeles43.6 mi away

7%7,768

Newport Beach6.5 mi away

5%6,236

Santa Ana7.6 mi away

5%5,878

Costa Mesa8.2 mi away

4%4,643

Orange9.1 mi away

3%3,682

Anaheim12.3 mi away

3%3,624

Tustin4.3 mi away

3%3,117

San Diego69.6 mi away

2%2,886

Lake Forest5.7 mi away

2%2,186

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%43,096

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

How far

How far Irvine commutes

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

54%

17%

12%

54%Under 10 mi

17%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Irvine is a job hub

2.39jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Irvine are

279,609 jobs are based in Irvine. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Irvine’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Irvine

279,609 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month77%

Jobs Irvine residents hold

116,790 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month73%

+31%

Jobs based in Irvine, 2013 → 2023: 214,257 → 279,609. 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.