Hercules Village · Photo: Sanfranman59 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Hercules have higher incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 5.6% (California 12.0%). Hercules grades A− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 7.8 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 37.5 in San Francisco.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Hercules stands out on work
Hercules workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 38 minutes each way, against 29 across California. Over a year that’s about 291 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
76% of Hercules’ 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 73% of the jobs based in Hercules. 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.
Why Hercules gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hercules is better than 79% of U.S. towns, #177 of 847 in California. Household income holds Hercules’ grade up ($129,397, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (6.4%, 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, Hercules could be anywhere from B+ to A.
The trip to work from Hercules: about 38 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 12 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hercules workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,456 commuters (the 19% 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.
73% of the jobs in Hercules pay over $3,333 a month
4,133 jobs are based in Hercules.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hercules, 2013 → 2023: 4,169 → 4,133. 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 Hercules’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Hercules, and who commutes in
On a workday 11,191 residents head out to work, 538 work right here, and 3,595 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Hercules on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.35 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.
18% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where Hercules clocks in
11% 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.
The commute from Hercules, by distance
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Hercules
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hercules is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #31 of 847 in California. Both inputs place Hercules 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 12,913 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 99% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 4.1% of Hercules households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Hercules’ commuters take a bus or train.
Hercules is 596th of 1,645 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 36,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Orinda CA | 19,507 | $250K | 2.2% | 3.4% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 594 | Eastern Goleta Valley CA | 28,295 | $146K | 7.9% | 3.9% | 9% | A− |
| 595 | Golden Valley MN | 21,325 | $109K | 9.1% | 4.6% | 8% | A− |
| 596 | Hercules CA | 26,326 | $129K | 5.6% | 6.4% | 5% | A− |
| 597 | Middleton WI | 23,115 | $90K | 7.6% | 3.0% | 15% | A− |
| 598 | Plainfield Township MI | 34,770 | $94K | 6.5% | 4.1% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,645 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Hercules, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Hercules and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Vallejo (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Hercules’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 Hercules: questions
What is the median household income in Hercules?
$129,397 (±$8,414) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hercules?
5.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hercules?
38 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hercules work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (18%, 19 mi), Oakland (11%, 18 mi), Richmond (6%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hercules walkable?
Hercules is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.5 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hercules without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 99% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hercules, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hercules
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.