Work & commute · Morro Bay

Work & commute in Morro Bay, CA

Most working residents leave Morro Bay for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are San Luis Obispo (20%), Atascadero (4%) and Los Angeles (3%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

780 of 4,127 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

22%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,347 Morro Bay residents head out of town to work, 780 work right here, and 2,288 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Morro Bay.

3,347live here, work elsewhere

780live and work here

2,288work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Morro Bay goes to work

San Luis Obispo13 mi away

20%837

Morro Bay (in town)right here

19%780

Atascadero12.4 mi away

4%166

Los Angeles167.5 mi away

3%129

Los Osos4.9 mi away

3%120

El Paso de Robles (Paso Robles)21.2 mi away

3%110

Cayucos5 mi away

2%87

Santa Maria38.3 mi away

2%75

Cambria17.8 mi away

2%73

Templeton15 mi away

2%63

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%1,687

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

How far

How far Morro Bay commutes

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

25%

43%

28%

25%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Morro Bay is a commuter town

0.74jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Morro Bay are

3,068 jobs are based in Morro Bay. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Morro Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Morro Bay

3,068 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Morro Bay residents hold

4,127 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+6%

Jobs based in Morro Bay, 2013 → 2023: 2,905 → 3,068. 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.