Work & commute · San Mateo

Work & commute in San Mateo, CA

Most working residents leave San Mateo for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are San Francisco (19%), Redwood City (5%) and Palo Alto (5%). Half commute less than 14 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

6,314 of 50,444 working residents

Typical commute

14 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

25%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 44,130 San Mateo residents head out of town to work, 6,314 work right here, and 48,227 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in San Mateo.

44,130live here, work elsewhere

6,314live and work here

48,227work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where San Mateo goes to work

San Francisco41.1 mi away

19%9,495

San Mateo (in town)right here

13%6,314

Redwood City6.2 mi away

5%2,507

Palo Alto14.6 mi away

5%2,300

South San Francisco7.5 mi away

4%2,116

San Jose32.8 mi away

4%2,018

Burlingame3.5 mi away

3%1,755

Menlo Park10.5 mi away

3%1,562

Foster City3.3 mi away

3%1,412

Mountain View16.9 mi away

3%1,330

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%19,635

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

How far

How far San Mateo commutes

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

37%

47%

37%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

9%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

San Mateo is balanced between jobs and homes

1.08jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in San Mateo are

54,541 jobs are based in San Mateo. Here is what they are, next to the jobs San Mateo’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in San Mateo

54,541 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month79%

Jobs San Mateo residents hold

50,444 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month79%

+28%

Jobs based in San Mateo, 2013 → 2023: 42,652 → 54,541. 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.