Work & commute · Malibu

Work & commute in Malibu, CA

Most working residents leave Malibu for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Los Angeles (34%), Burbank (7%) and Santa Monica (5%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

347 of 3,655 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

40%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,308 Malibu residents head out of town to work, 347 work right here, and 4,960 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Malibu.

3,308live here, work elsewhere

347live and work here

4,960work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Malibu goes to work

Los Angeles22.1 mi away

34%1,258

Malibu (in town)right here

9%347

Burbank29.7 mi away

7%268

Santa Monica17.1 mi away

5%165

Thousand Oaks13.5 mi away

3%110

Beverly Hills23.1 mi away

2%70

San Francisco349.5 mi away

2%70

Culver City22.9 mi away

2%63

Santa Clarita32.8 mi away

1%50

Irvine63.1 mi away

1%43

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%1,211

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

How far

How far Malibu commutes

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

16%

40%

27%

17%

16%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

27%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Malibu is balanced between jobs and homes

1.45jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Malibu are

5,307 jobs are based in Malibu. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Malibu’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Malibu

5,307 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month66%

Jobs Malibu residents hold

3,655 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+15%

Jobs based in Malibu, 2013 → 2023: 4,606 → 5,307. 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.