Photo: Acj sf · CC BY-SA 4.0Brisbane has higher household incomes than 96% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 34% of workers; California has 17%. Below the poverty line: 5.5% of residents, next to 12.0% across California. Jobs and income earn Brisbane A−; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Brisbane
Much of Brisbane works one town over
50% of working residents work in a town that borders Brisbane: San Francisco (36%), South San Francisco (9%) and Oakland (3%). Next door ↓
Brisbane is where the jobs are
Brisbane has 6,769 jobs, 3.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 9,200 people are in town, 97% more than the 4,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Brisbane works from home
35% of Brisbane workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
82% of Brisbane’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data, and so do 78% of the jobs based in Brisbane. The jobs ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Brisbane’s working residents have a job less than 7 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 34 minutes, longer than the California average of 29. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The four measures behind Brisbane’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brisbane is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #197 of 847 in California. Household income holds Brisbane’s grade up ($156,169, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (8.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brisbane could be anywhere from B to A+.
In and out of Brisbane on a workday
On a workday 2,122 residents head out to work, 144 work right here, and 6,625 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,200 people are in Brisbane on a workday afternoon, 97% more than live here.
3.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 long Brisbane spends getting to work: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brisbane workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,448 commuters (the 34% who work from home are left out). Across California: 79% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
78% of the jobs in Brisbane pay over $3,333 a month
6,769 jobs are based in Brisbane.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brisbane, 2013 → 2023: 6,916 → 6,769. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Brisbane’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Brisbane
Where Brisbane clocks in
9% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How far Brisbane goes to work
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Brisbane is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,210 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.3% of Brisbane households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 12% of Brisbane’s commuters take a bus or train.
888th of 3,798: where Brisbane ranks among U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Del Mar CA | 3,858 | $199K | 2.7% | 1.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Las Flores CA | 5,513 | $212K | 4.8% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 77 | Broadmoor CA | 4,586 | $167K | 2.5% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 886 | Green Township NJ | 3,715 | $142K | 4.3% | 5.3% | 4% | A− |
| 887 | Harvest AL | 5,955 | $102K | 11.3% | 1.7% | 1% | A− |
| 888 | Brisbane CA | 4,656 | $156K | 5.5% | 8.7% | 6% | A− |
| 889 | Indian Wells CA | 4,992 | $163K | 3.2% | 6.1% | 5% | A− |
| 890 | Canterbury CT | 5,251 | $103K | 4.9% | 2.5% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Brisbane, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Work next door: 50% of Brisbane’s workers
The biggest share goes to San Francisco (36%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Brisbane workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane | – | A− | A | 34 min | $156,169 |
| Daly City | 2% | A− | A+ | 29 min | $123,547 |
| San Francisco | 36% | B+ | A+ | 30 min | $140,970 |
| South San Francisco | 9% | A | A | 26 min | $136,578 |
| Alameda | under 2% | A− | A+ | 32 min | $137,697 |
| Oakland | 3% | B | A+ | 30 min | $101,600 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Brisbane’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Brisbane: questions
What is the median household income in Brisbane?
$156,169 (±$39,706) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brisbane?
5.5%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brisbane?
34 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brisbane work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (36%, 7 mi), South San Francisco (9%, 2 mi), Oakland (3%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brisbane walkable?
Brisbane is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.3 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brisbane without a car?
12% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brisbane, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brisbane
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.