Work & commute · Long Beach

Work & commute in Long Beach, CA

About one in 5 of Long Beach’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Los Angeles (16%), Torrance (3%) and Irvine (3%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

21%

38,822 of 185,130 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 146,308 Long Beach residents head out of town to work, 38,822 work right here, and 115,658 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Long Beach.

146,308live here, work elsewhere

38,822live and work here

115,658work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Long Beach goes to work

Long Beach (in town)right here

21%38,822

Los Angeles21.6 mi away

16%28,925

Torrance11.3 mi away

3%5,423

Irvine23.9 mi away

3%4,668

Carson6.2 mi away

2%4,556

Anaheim24.1 mi away

2%4,308

Huntington Beach11 mi away

2%3,177

Santa Ana16.7 mi away

2%2,883

San Diego89.3 mi away

1%2,724

Signal Hill1.6 mi away

1%2,596

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%87,048

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

How far

How far Long Beach commutes

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

43%

37%

10%

43%Under 10 mi

37%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Long Beach is balanced between jobs and homes

0.83jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.83 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Long Beach are

154,480 jobs are based in Long Beach. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Long Beach’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Long Beach

154,480 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Long Beach residents hold

185,130 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month64%

+4%

Jobs based in Long Beach, 2013 → 2023: 148,577 → 154,480. 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.