Photo: CityofSanCarlos · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes put San Carlos near the very top of U.S. towns
San Carlos grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Measured by household income, San Carlos is among the highest-earning towns in the country. The poverty rate is 3.3%; California has 12.0%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in San Carlos: the gist
San Carlos trades workers with the towns around it
San Carlos has about as many jobs (16,608) as working residents (14,071), but they are mostly different people: 12,954 residents leave for work each day while 15,491 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in San Carlos are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in San Carlos
35% of San Carlos workers work from home, against 17% across California. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs here, and most residents’ jobs, pay over $40,000
83% of San Carlos’ 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 76% of the jobs based in San Carlos. The jobs ↓
San Carlos draws workers from far and wide
The 16,608 jobs in San Carlos are filled from a wide area. San Carlos’ own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 38%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in San Carlos
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, San Carlos is better than 92% of U.S. towns, #46 of 847 in California. Household income holds San Carlos’ grade up ($237,470, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (5.0%, 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, San Carlos could be anywhere from A− to A+.
San Carlos by day and by night
On a workday 12,954 residents head out to work, 1,117 work right here, and 15,491 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 (1.18 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.
Each way, about 25 minutes from San Carlos
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of San Carlos workers work from home, vs 17% across California. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,105 commuters (the 35% 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.
76% of the jobs in San Carlos pay over $3,333 a month
16,608 jobs are based in San Carlos.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in San Carlos, 2013 → 2023: 12,910 → 16,608. 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 San Carlos’s own residents hold wherever they work.
12% of working residents work in San Francisco
Where San Carlos clocks in
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.
Half of San Carlos commutes less than 12 miles
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.
In San Carlos, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, San Carlos is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #202 of 847 in California. Both inputs place San Carlos 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 15,540 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 14% 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 54% 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 San Carlos households have no vehicle (California 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of San Carlos’ commuters take a bus or train.
San Carlos is 188th of 1,506 U.S. towns of 20,000 to 40,000 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 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Manhattan Beach CA | 33,122 | $204K | 4.5% | 3.8% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Saratoga CA | 30,418 | $250K | 3.3% | 4.0% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | North Potomac MD | 23,922 | $187K | 5.3% | 4.2% | 4% | A |
| 187 | Clarksburg MD | 30,487 | $177K | 3.8% | 4.4% | 4% | A |
| 188 | San Carlos CA | 29,261 | $237K | 3.3% | 5.0% | 8% | A |
| 189 | Vernon Hills IL | 26,825 | $122K | 6.1% | 3.2% | 7% | A |
| 190 | Pickerington OH | 26,333 | $112K | 3.6% | 3.5% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,506 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Carlos, the top three, the last and three more from California.
Next door to San Carlos
The biggest share goes to Redwood City (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | San Carlos workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Carlos | – | A | A | 25 min | $237,470 |
| Redwood City | 7% | A | A | 24 min | $157,814 |
| Belmont | under 3% | A− | A | 29 min | $205,297 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of San Carlos’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 San Carlos: questions
What is the median household income in San Carlos?
$237,470 (±$15,954) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $99,122 across California and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in San Carlos?
3.3%, against 12.0% across California and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from San Carlos?
25 minutes each way on average, against 29 across California and 26 nationally. 35% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in San Carlos work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are San Francisco (12%, 21 mi), Redwood City (7%, 3 mi), Palo Alto (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is San Carlos walkable?
San Carlos is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around San Carlos without a car?
5% 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 San Carlos, from the people who make the trip.
More of San Carlos
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.