Work & commute · Bellingham

Work & commute in Bellingham, WA

51% of Bellingham’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Seattle (5%), Ferndale (4%) and Mount Vernon (2%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

51%

18,700 of 36,724 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 18,024 Bellingham residents head out of town to work, 18,700 work right here, and 30,740 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bellingham.

18,024live here, work elsewhere

18,700live and work here

30,740work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bellingham goes to work

Bellingham (in town)right here

51%18,700

Seattle78.5 mi away

5%1,851

Ferndale8.8 mi away

4%1,292

Mount Vernon24.3 mi away

2%880

Everett56.2 mi away

2%806

Lynden13.6 mi away

2%624

Bellevue81.2 mi away

1%511

Marietta-Alderwood4.6 mi away

1%457

Burlington21 mi away

1%456

Blaine20.5 mi away

1%364

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%10,783

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Bellingham commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

60%

13%

24%

60%Under 10 mi

13%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bellingham is balanced between jobs and homes

1.35jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Bellingham are

49,440 jobs are based in Bellingham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bellingham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bellingham

49,440 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Bellingham residents hold

36,724 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+16%

Jobs based in Bellingham, 2013 → 2023: 42,590 → 49,440. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe 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 saysA 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 surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.