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Work & commute · Birch Bay

Work & commute in Birch Bay, WA

Most working residents leave Birch Bay for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Bellingham (29%), Blaine (9%) and Ferndale (6%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times
Work in town
3%
133 of 3,941 working residents
Typical commute
16 mi
Half commute less than this, straight-line
Average commute time
26 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 3,808 Birch Bay residents head out of town to work, 133 work right here, and 558 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Birch Bay.

3,808live here, work elsewhere
133live and work here
558work here, live elsewhere
Leave for workStayCome in
The map

Where Birch Bay goes to work

BlaineLyndenFerndaleAnacortesMount VernonKentEverettBellinghamSeattleTacomaCusterMarietta-AlderwoodBirch BayBellinghamBlaineFerndaleSeattleLyndenEverettMount VernonCusterMarietta-AlderwoodBirch Bay
1
Bellingham17.2 mi away
29%1,128
2
Blaine4.4 mi away
9%373
3
Ferndale8.5 mi away
6%250
4
Seattle91.9 mi away
6%223
5
Lynden13.2 mi away
4%164
6
Birch Bay (in town)right here
3%133
7
Everett71.2 mi away
2%82
8
Mount Vernon40.2 mi away
2%69
9
Custer5 mi away
1%49
10
Marietta-Alderwood12.7 mi away
1%47
Everywhere elseother towns and states
36%1,423

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

How far

How far Birch Bay commutes

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

26%Under 10 mi
43%10–24 mi
6%25–50 mi
25%Over 50 mi
Job hub or commuter town?

Birch Bay is a commuter town

0.18jobs per working resident
A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Birch Bay are

691 jobs are based in Birch Bay. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Birch Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Birch Bay

691 jobs
Goods (factories, building, farms)12%
Trade, transport & utilities14%
Services (health, schools, offices…)74%
$1,250 a month or less18%
$1,251–$3,333 a month32%
Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Birch Bay residents hold

3,941 working residents
Goods (factories, building, farms)23%
Trade, transport & utilities20%
Services (health, schools, offices…)57%
$1,250 a month or less11%
$1,251–$3,333 a month23%
Over $3,333 a month66%
+25%

Jobs based in Birch Bay, 2013 → 2023: 552 → 691. 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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/19 · 2025-01-01
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