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Work & commute in Milton-Freewater · A commuter town

81% of Milton-Freewater’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Milton-Freewater for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are Walla Walla (22%), Pendleton (4%) and Portland (4%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Work in town
19%
525 of 2,827 working residents
Typical commute
9 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
17 min
Less than OR (23 min)
Work from home
6%
Less than OR (19%)
Jobs based here
1,432
A commuter town
Work out of state
27%
mostly Washington

What kind of work town is Milton-Freewater?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · Time on the road

About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oregon

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
132 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Milton-Freewater17 min
Oregon23 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
6%

of Milton-Freewater workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10

How Milton-Freewater ranks on commute time →

The commute map

22% of working residents work in Walla Walla

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Weston: 103 residents work here (4%)AthenaMilton-FreewaterBaker CityHermiston: 43 residents work here (2%)Pendleton: 120 residents work here (4%)Portland: 107 residents work here (4%)College Place: 105 residents work here (4%)Walla Walla: 623 residents work here (22%)Richland: 44 residents work here (2%)Pasco: 48 residents work here (2%)Kennewick: 64 residents work here (2%)GarrettWalla WallaPendletonPortlandCollege PlaceWestonKennewickMilton-Freewater
1
Walla Walla, WA9.5 mi away
22%623
2
Milton-Freewater (in town)right here
19%525
3
Pendleton27.3 mi away
4%120
4
Portland207.2 mi away
4%107
54%105
6
Weston8.4 mi away
4%103
7
Kennewick, WA41.8 mi away
2%64
8
Pasco, WA41.8 mi away
2%48
9
Richland, WA49.7 mi away
2%44
10
Hermiston43.6 mi away
2%43
Everywhere elseother towns and states
37%1,045
The top trips

Where Milton-Freewater clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Day and night

Milton-Freewater quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,302 residents head out to work, 525 work right here, and 907 people come in from elsewhere.

2,302live here, work elsewhere
525live and work here
907work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night7,000
Workday5,600
7,000live here− 2,300head out to work+ 910come in to work= 5,600on a workday

About 5,600 people are in Milton-Freewater on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.51jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.51 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.

How far

Half of Milton-Freewater commutes less than 9 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miWalla Walla: 22% · 9.5 miPendleton: 4% · 27.3 miPortland: 4% · 207.2 miCollege Place: 4% · 7.4 miWeston: 4% · 8.4 miKennewick: 2% · 41.8 miPasco: 2% · 41.8 miRichland: 2% · 49.7 miHermiston: 2% · 43.6 miWalla Walla 22%Pendleton 4%Portland 4%College Place 4%Weston 4%Milton-Freewater
Milton-FreewaterTop destinations (size = commuters)
60%Under 10 mi1,576 residents
5%10–24 mi143 residents
14%25–50 mi379 residents
20%Over 50 mi530 residents

About 20% 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 2023.

The jobs

What the 1,432 jobs in Milton-Freewater are

1,432 jobs are based in Milton-Freewater. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Milton-Freewater’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Milton-FreewaterJobs Milton-Freewater residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms21%32%
Trade, transport & utilities16%18%
Services: health, schools, offices63%51%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less19%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month40%37%
Over $3,333 a month42%50%

Who does it

29 or younger24%26%
30 to 5446%47%
55 and older30%26%
+3%

Jobs based in Milton-Freewater, 2013 → 2023: 1,386 → 1,432. 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.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.
  • Where the employer says. A job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.
  • Two surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Milton-Freewater

Milton-Freewater home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Milton-Freewater, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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.

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