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Work & commute in Patterson · A commuter town

84% of Patterson’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Patterson for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Modesto (6%), San Jose (5%) and Livermore (5%). Half commute less than 35 miles.

Work in town
16%
1,443 of 9,206 working residents
Typical commute
35 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
42 min
More than CA (29 min)
Work from home
11%
Less than CA (17%)
Jobs based here
6,854
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Patterson?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The jobs

What the 6,854 jobs in Patterson are

6,854 jobs are based in Patterson. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Patterson’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in PattersonJobs Patterson residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms8%25%
Trade, transport & utilities55%25%
Services: health, schools, offices36%50%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less14%11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month35%27%
Over $3,333 a month52%61%

Who does it

29 or younger31%25%
30 to 5451%54%
55 and older18%21%
+136%

Jobs based in Patterson, 2013 → 2023: 2,903 → 6,854. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

The commute map

6% of working residents work in Modesto

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

NewmanPattersonCeres: 182 residents work here (2%)Turlock: 210 residents work here (2%)MercedPleasanton: 178 residents work here (2%)Modesto: 592 residents work here (6%)Tracy: 355 residents work here (4%)Livermore: 419 residents work here (5%)San Jose: 439 residents work here (5%)Fremont: 365 residents work here (4%)FresnoStockton: 324 residents work here (4%)ModestoSan JoseLivermoreFremontTracyStocktonPatterson
1
Patterson (in town)right here
16%1,443
2
Modesto13.9 mi away
6%592
3
San Jose38.3 mi away
5%439
4
Livermore36.2 mi away
5%419
5
Fremont43.2 mi away
4%365
6
Tracy23.8 mi away
4%355
7
Stockton35.6 mi away
4%324
8
Turlock16.3 mi away
2%210
9
Ceres13.3 mi away
2%182
10
Pleasanton42 mi away
2%178
Everywhere elseother towns and states
51%4,699
The top trips

Where Patterson clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 42 minutes each way, longer than most of California

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
319 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.3 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Patterson42 min
California29 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
11%

of Patterson workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10

How Patterson ranks on commute time →

Day and night

Patterson quiets down on a workday

On a workday 7,763 residents head out to work, 1,443 work right here, and 5,411 people come in from elsewhere.

7,763live here, work elsewhere
1,443live and work here
5,411work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night25,000
Workday22,000
25,000live here− 7,800head out to work+ 5,400come in to work= 22,000on a workday

About 22,000 people are in Patterson on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.74jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Patterson commutes less than 35 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 miModesto: 6% · 13.9 miSan Jose: 5% · 38.3 miLivermore: 5% · 36.2 miFremont: 4% · 43.2 miTracy: 4% · 23.8 miStockton: 4% · 35.6 miTurlock: 2% · 16.3 miCeres: 2% · 13.3 miPleasanton: 2% · 42 miModesto 6%San Jose 5%Livermore 5%Fremont 4%Tracy 4%Patterson
PattersonTop destinations (size = commuters)
20%Under 10 mi1,822 residents
22%10–24 mi2,041 residents
32%25–50 mi2,943 residents
26%Over 50 mi2,388 residents

About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Patterson

Patterson home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Patterson, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Patterson worth it?

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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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