Work & commute · San Jose

Work & commute in San Jose, CA

About one in 3 of San Jose’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Santa Clara (8%), Sunnyvale (5%) and San Francisco (4%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

36%

166,361 of 460,888 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

20%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 294,527 San Jose residents head out of town to work, 166,361 work right here, and 238,645 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in San Jose.

294,527live here, work elsewhere

166,361live and work here

238,645work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where San Jose goes to work

San Jose (in town)right here

36%166,361

Santa Clara9.7 mi away

8%34,952

Sunnyvale13.2 mi away

5%24,523

San Francisco73.1 mi away

4%20,707

Fremont15.4 mi away

4%19,115

Mountain View16.2 mi away

3%15,769

Cupertino12.8 mi away

3%15,295

Palo Alto19.3 mi away

3%14,949

Milpitas10.4 mi away

3%13,326

Campbell7.7 mi away

2%8,841

Everywhere elseother towns and states

28%127,050

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

How far

How far San Jose commutes

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

52%

25%

13%

10%

52%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

San Jose is balanced between jobs and homes

0.88jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in San Jose are

405,006 jobs are based in San Jose. Here is what they are, next to the jobs San Jose’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in San Jose

405,006 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month74%

Jobs San Jose residents hold

460,888 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month76%

+13%

Jobs based in San Jose, 2013 → 2023: 357,022 → 405,006. 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.