Work & commute · Big Lake

Work & commute in Big Lake, WA

Most working residents leave Big Lake for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Mount Vernon (19%), Seattle (9%) and Everett (6%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12 of 1,300 working residents

Typical commute

27 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,288 Big Lake residents head out of town to work, 12 work right here, and 116 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Big Lake.

1,288live here, work elsewhere

12live and work here

116work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Big Lake goes to work

Mount Vernon3.5 mi away

19%245

Seattle53.9 mi away

9%116

Everett30.1 mi away

6%79

Burlington6.2 mi away

5%64

Bellingham26.8 mi away

5%63

Sedro-Woolley8 mi away

4%58

Bellevue55.3 mi away

3%37

Arlington16.2 mi away

2%29

Marysville22.2 mi away

2%29

Anacortes18.6 mi away

2%25

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%555

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

How far

How far Big Lake commutes

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

34%

15%

24%

27%

34%Under 10 mi

15%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Big Lake is a commuter town

0.10jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.10 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Big Lake are

128 jobs are based in Big Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Big Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Big Lake

128 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Big Lake residents hold

1,300 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+58%

Jobs based in Big Lake, 2013 → 2023: 81 → 128. 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.