Milpitas Grammar School · Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Milpitas top those of 98% of U.S. towns
25% of workers work from home; California has 17%. 5.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 12.0% across California. The two grades for Milpitas are A for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Milpitas at work: what stands out
Milpitas trades workers with the towns around it
Milpitas has about as many jobs (42,298) as working residents (38,549), but they are mostly different people: 34,833 residents leave for work each day while 38,582 people come in. Only 9% of the jobs in Milpitas are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Milpitas and San Jose trade workers both ways
San Jose is the top workplace for Milpitas residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Milpitas come from (32% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
79% of Milpitas’ 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 75% of the jobs based in Milpitas. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Milpitas
25% of Milpitas workers work from home, against 17% across California. 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.
Milpitas’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Milpitas is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #52 of 847 in California. Household income is its strongest input ($178,798, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.1%, U.S. 5.2%). 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, Milpitas could be anywhere from A to A+.
In and out of Milpitas on a workday
On a workday 34,833 residents head out to work, 3,716 work right here, and 38,582 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.
26% of working residents work in San Jose
Where Milpitas clocks in
26% of workers
9% 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.
Milpitas makes things: 33% of its jobs are in goods
42,298 jobs are based in Milpitas.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milpitas, 2013 → 2023: 39,226 → 42,298. 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 Milpitas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Milpitas, about 26 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milpitas workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 29,949 commuters (the 25% 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.
How many miles Milpitas commutes
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.
Milpitas is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 7.1% across California.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 40,053 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 86% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 12% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 14.0 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). 6.3% of Milpitas households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Milpitas’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Milpitas is 47th of 573 U.S. towns of 55,000 to 106,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Cupertino CA | 58,333 | $235K | 4.1% | 4.0% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | South San Francisco CA | 64,941 | $137K | 6.7% | 2.8% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Dublin CA | 71,602 | $214K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Northfield Township IL | 89,835 | $137K | 7.1% | 3.5% | 16% | A |
| 46 | Palo Alto CA | 67,609 | $231K | 6.0% | 3.9% | 16% | A |
| 47 | Milpitas CA | 78,596 | $179K | 5.9% | 4.1% | 10% | A |
| 48 | Canton Township MI | 99,714 | $121K | 5.5% | 3.6% | 8% | A |
| 49 | Bel Air South MD | 58,137 | $124K | 3.9% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 573 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Milpitas, the top three, the last and three more from California.
33% of Milpitas works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to San Jose (26%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Milpitas’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 Milpitas: questions
What is the median household income in Milpitas?
$178,798 (±$10,931) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milpitas?
5.9%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milpitas?
26 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milpitas work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Jose (26%, 10 mi), Santa Clara (9%, 6 mi), Fremont (7%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milpitas walkable?
Milpitas is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milpitas without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 12% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milpitas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milpitas
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.