Work & commute · Lafayette

Work & commute in Lafayette, CA

Most working residents leave Lafayette for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are San Francisco (19%), Oakland (8%) and Walnut Creek (7%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

699 of 9,577 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

43%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,878 Lafayette residents head out of town to work, 699 work right here, and 8,115 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lafayette.

8,878live here, work elsewhere

699live and work here

8,115work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lafayette goes to work

San Francisco51.1 mi away

19%1,817

Oakland10.1 mi away

8%797

Lafayette (in town)right here

7%699

Walnut Creek4.4 mi away

7%628

Berkeley9.9 mi away

4%367

Concord8.6 mi away

3%301

San Jose44.3 mi away

2%218

San Ramon13.4 mi away

2%186

Moraga3.1 mi away

2%178

Pleasanton20.2 mi away

2%166

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%4,220

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

How far

How far Lafayette commutes

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

34%

40%

13%

34%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lafayette is balanced between jobs and homes

0.92jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.92 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lafayette are

8,814 jobs are based in Lafayette. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lafayette’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lafayette

8,814 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)78%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Lafayette residents hold

9,577 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month12%

Over $3,333 a month79%

−1%

Jobs based in Lafayette, 2013 → 2023: 8,948 → 8,814. 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.