Photo: Mercurywoodrose · CC BY-SA 3.0Hayward’s household incomes are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Hayward B+; getting around on foot earns it A. 9.6% of residents live below the poverty line; California has 12.0%. About one in seven work in Hayward itself; outside it, Oakland draws the most (8%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Hayward apart
Inside Hayward’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hayward is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #292 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds Hayward’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hayward could be anywhere from B to A−.
The daily commute in and out of Hayward
On a workday 62,557 residents head out to work, 9,512 work right here, and 53,209 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 (0.87 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.
Commuting out of Hayward: the destinations
Where Hayward clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
68% of the jobs in Hayward pay over $3,333 a month
62,721 jobs are based in Hayward.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hayward, 2013 → 2023: 62,924 → 62,721. 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 Hayward’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 32 minutes each way for Hayward’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hayward workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 67,926 commuters (the 14% 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.
Where in the region Hayward works
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.
Hayward is more walkable than 94% 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 78,904 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 93% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 38% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 5.6% of Hayward households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Hayward’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
64th of 214: where Hayward ranks among U.S. towns of 110,000 to 212,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pearland TX | 129,930 | $119K | 4.1% | 3.3% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Smithtown NY | 116,847 | $153K | 4.2% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| 3 | Berkeley CA | 121,911 | $108K | 17.3% | 5.6% | 21% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Santa Clara CA | 133,446 | $179K | 8.4% | 5.1% | 14% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Charleston SC | 159,423 | $92K | 12.3% | 3.4% | 42% | B+ |
| 63 | Thousand Oaks CA | 122,230 | $136K | 8.9% | 5.4% | 26% | B+ |
| 64 | Hayward CA | 157,113 | $113K | 9.6% | 6.3% | 13% | B+ |
| 65 | Broken Arrow OK | 124,991 | $87K | 8.8% | 4.2% | 17% | B+ |
| 66 | Murrieta CA | 114,124 | $114K | 5.4% | 6.8% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 214 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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 Hayward, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door is work for 17% of Hayward
The biggest share goes to Fremont (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hayward workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hayward | – | B+ | A | 32 min | $113,318 |
| Castro Valley | under 2% | A | A | 33 min | $142,779 |
| Fairview | under 2% | A− | A | 35 min | $148,667 |
| Cherryland | under 2% | B+ | A− | 31 min | $86,418 |
| Union City | 4% | A− | A | 32 min | $133,715 |
| San Lorenzo | under 2% | A | A | 31 min | $112,660 |
| Fremont | 7% | A | A+ | 30 min | $181,506 |
| Pleasanton | 2% | A | A+ | 34 min | $190,124 |
| Sunol | under 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| San Leandro | 4% | B+ | A+ | 31 min | $101,420 |
| Foster City | under 2% | A | A | 29 min | $199,143 |
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 Hayward’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 Hayward: questions
What is the median household income in Hayward?
$113,318 (±$5,850) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hayward?
9.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hayward?
32 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hayward work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oakland (8%, 12 mi), San Francisco (8%, 20 mi), Fremont (7%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hayward walkable?
Hayward is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.3 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hayward without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 38% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hayward, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hayward
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.