Work & commute · San Marcos

Work & commute in San Marcos, CA

Most working residents leave San Marcos for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are San Diego (22%), Carlsbad (11%) and Escondido (6%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

5,408 of 40,959 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 35,551 San Marcos residents head out of town to work, 5,408 work right here, and 30,761 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in San Marcos.

35,551live here, work elsewhere

5,408live and work here

30,761work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where San Marcos goes to work

San Diego21.2 mi away

22%8,827

San Marcos (in town)right here

13%5,408

Carlsbad6.7 mi away

11%4,608

Escondido5.6 mi away

6%2,535

Vista5.5 mi away

5%2,218

Oceanside10.1 mi away

4%1,727

Encinitas7.9 mi away

3%1,221

Los Angeles94 mi away

3%1,154

Poway13.3 mi away

2%692

Irvine51.1 mi away

1%614

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%11,955

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

How far

How far San Marcos commutes

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

45%

25%

10%

21%

45%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

San Marcos 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 Marcos are

36,169 jobs are based in San Marcos. Here is what they are, next to the jobs San Marcos’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in San Marcos

36,169 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs San Marcos residents hold

40,959 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+24%

Jobs based in San Marcos, 2013 → 2023: 29,189 → 36,169. 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.