Photo: Doc Searls · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Half Moon Bay are higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
5.6% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 12.0% for California as a whole. Half Moon Bay grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 26% of workers, where California as a whole has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Half Moon Bay: the figures worth knowing
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Half Moon Bay
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Half Moon Bay is better than 90% of U.S. towns, #66 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($157,884, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Half Moon Bay could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Commuting from Half Moon Bay: about 29 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Half Moon Bay workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,048 commuters (the 26% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Half Moon Bay
On a workday 4,594 residents head out to work, 857 work right here, and 3,139 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,800 people are in Half Moon Bay on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.73 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
12% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Half Moon Bay clocks in
5% of workers
4% 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.
Jobs in Half Moon Bay: what the 3,996 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Half Moon Bay, 2013 → 2023: 3,790 → 3,996. 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 Half Moon Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Half Moon Bay
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: Half Moon Bay
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Half Moon Bay is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #254 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Half Moon Bay near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,442 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.8% of Half Moon Bay households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Half Moon Bay’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Half Moon Bay ranks: 403rd of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Piedmont CA | 10,642 | $250K | 4.3% | 1.5% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 81 | Sierra Madre CA | 10,620 | $144K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Alamo CA | 14,488 | $250K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 401 | Pebble Creek FL | 10,447 | $110K | 6.0% | 2.4% | 2% | A |
| 402 | Edgemere MD | 9,061 | $103K | 3.9% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| 403 | Half Moon Bay CA | 11,287 | $158K | 5.6% | 2.4% | 16% | A |
| 404 | DeForest WI | 13,094 | $106K | 5.7% | 2.4% | 10% | A |
| 405 | Kendall Township IL | 10,154 | $122K | 2.3% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Half Moon Bay, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Around Half Moon Bay: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to El Granada (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Half Moon Bay workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half Moon Bay | – | A | A | 29 min | $157,884 |
| El Granada | 3% | B+ | A− | 30 min | $213,347 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Half Moon Bay’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 Half Moon Bay: questions
What is the median household income in Half Moon Bay?
$157,884 (±$5,507) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Half Moon Bay?
5.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Half Moon Bay?
29 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Half Moon Bay work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (12%, 21 mi), San Jose (5%, 36 mi), Palo Alto (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Half Moon Bay walkable?
Half Moon Bay is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Half Moon Bay without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Half Moon Bay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Half Moon Bay
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.