Photo: Oleg Alexandrov · CC BY-SA 3.0Fremont has higher household incomes than 98% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Fremont is better than 90% of U.S. towns (A); for walkability it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (A+). 5.2% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 37.5 in San Francisco.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Fremont: the gist
Fremont trades workers with the towns around it
Fremont has about as many jobs (121,081) as working residents (110,068), but they are mostly different people: 91,343 residents leave for work each day while 102,356 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Fremont are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
81% of Fremont’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 79% of the jobs based in Fremont. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Fremont
32% of Fremont workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Fremont makes and builds things
46% of the jobs based in Fremont are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Fremont residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Fremont has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Fremont went from 85,016 in 2013 to 121,081 in 2023, +42%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Fremont’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Household income holds Fremont’s grade up ($181,506, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fremont stays A.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 91,343 residents head out to work, 18,725 work right here, and 102,356 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.10 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
46% of the jobs in Fremont make or build things
121,081 jobs are based in Fremont.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fremont, 2013 → 2023: 85,016 → 121,081. 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 Fremont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Fremont: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fremont workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 77,592 commuters (the 32% 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.
12% of working residents work in San Jose
Where Fremont clocks in
12% of workers
6% 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.
Fremont’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Fremont
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 114,249 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 26% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 90% 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). 4.7% of Fremont households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Fremont’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Fremont is 9th of 110 U.S. towns of 159,000 to 306,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 3 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Cary NC | 183,582 | $135K | 5.7% | 3.5% | 19% | A |
| 8 | Gilbert AZ | 287,285 | $123K | 5.3% | 3.5% | 15% | A |
| 9 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| 10 | Alexandria VA | 160,662 | $120K | 7.9% | 3.3% | 15% | A |
| 11 | Overland Park KS | 203,677 | $105K | 5.6% | 3.6% | 32% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Roseville CA | 167,302 | $119K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Santa Clarita CA | 228,430 | $123K | 7.4% | 5.6% | 21% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Huntington Beach CA | 191,451 | $121K | 7.8% | 5.4% | 14% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Shreveport LA | 175,902 | $49K | 23.5% | 9.0% | 61% | C− |
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 Fremont, the top three, the last and three more from California.
22% of Fremont works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to San Jose (12%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fremont workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fremont | – | A | A+ | 30 min | $181,506 |
| San Jose | 12% | A− | A | 27 min | $146,427 |
| Union City | under 3% | A− | A | 32 min | $133,715 |
| Sunol | under 3% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Hayward | 2% | B+ | A | 32 min | $113,318 |
| Milpitas | under 3% | A | A | 26 min | $178,798 |
| Sunnyvale | 5% | A | A+ | 23 min | $186,170 |
| Menlo Park | 3% | A | A+ | 24 min | $210,025 |
Same-state neighbors only. Sunol: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fremont’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 Fremont: questions
What is the median household income in Fremont?
$181,506 (±$3,676) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fremont?
5.2%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fremont?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 32% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fremont work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Jose (12%, 15 mi), San Francisco (8%, 33 mi), Santa Clara (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fremont walkable?
Fremont is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fremont without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 26% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fremont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fremont
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.