Photo: User:Oakshade · CC BY 2.5At 6.1%, unemployment in San Bernardino is higher than in 75% of U.S. towns
The two grades for San Bernardino are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 4.3 in Riverside. 6% of workers work from home, where California as a whole has 17%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Why San Bernardino gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Bernardino is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #586 of 847 in California. Job access by car holds San Bernardino’s grade up (ahead of 89% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, San Bernardino could be anywhere from C to B−.
The daily commute in and out of San Bernardino
On a workday 66,459 residents head out to work, 16,348 work right here, and 99,947 people come in from elsewhere.
About 256,000 people are in San Bernardino on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.40 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where San Bernardino goes to work
Where San Bernardino clocks in
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.
What the 116,295 jobs in San Bernardino are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Bernardino, 2014 → 2024: 91,061 → 116,295. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs San Bernardino’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 30 minutes each way for San Bernardino’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Bernardino workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 88,660 commuters (the 6% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from San Bernardino
About 19% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
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: San Bernardino
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Bernardino is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #398 of 847 in California. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.8% 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 94,514 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 30% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 6.8% of San Bernardino households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of San Bernardino’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
San Bernardino next to U.S. towns of 155,000 to 300,000: 80th of 113 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 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Huntington NY | 205,891 | $168K | 5.0% | 4.3% | 22% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 8 | Fremont CA | 226,442 | $182K | 5.2% | 4.7% | 17% | A |
| 9 | Sunnyvale CA | 156,577 | $186K | 5.8% | 4.5% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Roseville CA | 167,302 | $119K | 5.9% | 5.2% | 22% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Newport News VA | 183,230 | $70K | 14.5% | 5.8% | 39% | C+ |
| 79 | Richmond VA | 237,257 | $65K | 18.2% | 5.7% | 35% | C+ |
| 80 | San Bernardino CA | 222,044 | $67K | 18.6% | 6.1% | 20% | C+ |
| 81 | St. Louis MO | 278,144 | $56K | 20.6% | 5.0% | 39% | C+ |
| 82 | Clarksville TN | 188,829 | $69K | 12.3% | 5.5% | 37% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 52% | 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 San Bernardino, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Bordering towns draw 14% of San Bernardino’s workers
The biggest share goes to Rialto (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | San Bernardino workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino | – | C+ | A− | 30 min | $67,415 |
| Highland | under 3% | C+ | B+ | 30 min | $77,120 |
| Colton | 3% | C+ | A− | 28 min | $71,208 |
| Muscoy | under 3% | C+ | A | 32 min | $71,458 |
| Rialto | 5% | B− | A− | 32 min | $88,857 |
| Loma Linda | 2% | B− | A+ | 20 min | $82,353 |
| Redlands | 4% | B+ | A− | 25 min | $105,041 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of San Bernardino’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 2024, 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 San Bernardino: questions
What is the median household income in San Bernardino?
$67,415 (±$2,803) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Bernardino?
18.6%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Bernardino?
30 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Bernardino work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Riverside (6%, 15 mi), Los Angeles (5%, 64 mi), Rialto (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is San Bernardino walkable?
San Bernardino is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Bernardino without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 30% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from San Bernardino, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Bernardino
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.