Work & commute · Oakland

Work & commute in Oakland, CA

About one in 4 of Oakland’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are San Francisco (22%), Berkeley (6%) and San Leandro (3%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

45,566 of 177,617 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

27%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 132,051 Oakland residents head out of town to work, 45,566 work right here, and 152,481 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oakland.

132,051live here, work elsewhere

45,566live and work here

152,481work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oakland goes to work

Oakland (in town)right here

26%45,566

San Francisco44.2 mi away

22%38,629

Berkeley7.7 mi away

6%9,783

San Leandro5.7 mi away

3%5,545

Alameda2.7 mi away

3%4,680

Hayward11.9 mi away

3%4,601

San Jose39.7 mi away

2%3,562

Fremont24.6 mi away

2%2,923

Emeryville6.3 mi away

1%2,655

Walnut Creek13.6 mi away

1%2,134

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%57,539

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

How far

How far Oakland commutes

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

53%

29%

10%

53%Under 10 mi

29%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oakland is balanced between jobs and homes

1.12jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oakland are

198,047 jobs are based in Oakland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oakland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oakland

198,047 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Oakland residents hold

177,617 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+13%

Jobs based in Oakland, 2013 → 2023: 175,380 → 198,047. 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.