Hercules is a medium-sized coastal city (i.e. on the ocean, a bay, or inlet) located in the state of California. With a population of 26,582 people and six associated neighborhoods, Hercules is the 280th largest community in California.

Housing costs in Hercules are among some of the highest in the nation, although real estate prices here don't compare to real estate prices in the most expensive communities in California.

Also of interest is that Hercules has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

A relatively large number of people in Hercules telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 15.26% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Hercules is also nautical, which means that parts of it are somewhat historic and touch the ocean or tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and bays. Quite often, nautical areas such as these attract visitors and locals who come to enjoy the scenery and various waterfront activities.

In Hercules, however, the average commute to work is quite long. On average, people spend 38.33 minutes each day getting to work, which is significantly higher than the national average. One bright side is that local public transit is widely used, so it may be an option to avoid the headache of driving in the heavy traffic by leaving the car at home and taking transit.

Although the majority of commuting trips in the city are by private automobile, Hercules is somewhat unusual for a city of its size for having a substantial number of people who use public transportation. For a lot of people, the bus helps to get to and from their jobs every morning, which benefits everyone in the Hercules area by reducing both traffic and air pollution.

The education level of Hercules ranks among the highest in the nation. Of the 25-and-older adult population in Hercules, 45.31% have at least a bachelor's degree. The typical US community has just 21.84% of its adults holding a bachelor's degree or graduate degree.

The per capita income in Hercules in 2022 was $52,818, which is upper middle income relative to California, and wealthy relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $211,272 for a family of four.

Hercules is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Hercules home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Hercules residents report their race to be Asian, followed by Black or African-American. Hercules also has a sizeable Hispanic population (people of Hispanic origin can be of any race). People of Hispanic or Latino origin account for 15.74% of the city’s residents. Important ancestries of people in Hercules include Irish, Nigerian, German, Italian, and Other Arab.

Hercules also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 32.31%.

The most common language spoken in Hercules is English. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Tagalog.