Work & commute · San Francisco

Work & commute in San Francisco, CA

57% of San Francisco’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Oakland (4%), South San Francisco (3%) and San Jose (2%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

57%

228,851 of 400,964 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

31%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 172,113 San Francisco residents head out of town to work, 228,851 work right here, and 454,942 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in San Francisco.

172,113live here, work elsewhere

228,851live and work here

454,942work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where San Francisco goes to work

San Francisco (in town)right here

57%228,851

Oakland44.2 mi away

4%15,159

South San Francisco36.2 mi away

3%11,068

San Jose73.1 mi away

2%7,851

Palo Alto53.8 mi away

2%6,027

Menlo Park51.3 mi away

1%5,933

Berkeley41.2 mi away

1%5,626

San Mateo41.1 mi away

1%5,547

Los Angeles364 mi away

1%5,357

Mountain View56.9 mi away

1%5,282

Everywhere elseother towns and states

26%104,263

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

How far

How far San Francisco commutes

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

66%

13%

12%

66%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

San Francisco is a job hub

1.71jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in San Francisco are

683,793 jobs are based in San Francisco. Here is what they are, next to the jobs San Francisco’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in San Francisco

683,793 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)84%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month12%

Over $3,333 a month82%

Jobs San Francisco residents hold

400,964 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)80%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month78%

+17%

Jobs based in San Francisco, 2013 → 2023: 584,002 → 683,793. 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.