Work & commute · Burien

Work & commute in Burien, WA

Most working residents leave Burien for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Seattle (40%), SeaTac (6%) and Bellevue (5%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

1,451 of 22,676 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 21,225 Burien residents head out of town to work, 1,451 work right here, and 11,531 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Burien.

21,225live here, work elsewhere

1,451live and work here

11,531work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Burien goes to work

Seattle9.9 mi away

40%9,109

Burien (in town)right here

6%1,451

SeaTac3.1 mi away

6%1,250

Bellevue12.1 mi away

5%1,209

Renton7 mi away

5%1,176

Kent8.5 mi away

5%1,116

Tukwila3.2 mi away

4%1,016

Tacoma16.3 mi away

2%481

Redmond17.6 mi away

2%439

Auburn13.4 mi away

2%423

Everywhere elseother towns and states

22%5,006

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

How far

How far Burien commutes

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

58%

34%

58%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Burien is a commuter town

0.57jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Burien are

12,982 jobs are based in Burien. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Burien’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Burien

12,982 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Burien residents hold

22,676 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month72%

−0%

Jobs based in Burien, 2013 → 2023: 13,022 → 12,982. 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.