Work & commute · Chehalis

Work & commute in Chehalis, WA

Most working residents leave Chehalis for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Centralia (11%), Olympia (7%) and Seattle (6%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

606 of 3,646 working residents

Typical commute

27 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 3,040 Chehalis residents head out of town to work, 606 work right here, and 6,080 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Chehalis.

3,040live here, work elsewhere

606live and work here

6,080work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Chehalis goes to work

Chehalis (in town)right here

17%606

Centralia4.3 mi away

11%413

Olympia26.2 mi away

7%239

Seattle72 mi away

6%226

Tumwater22.6 mi away

4%155

Tacoma47.1 mi away

4%132

Lacey27.3 mi away

3%113

Fords Prairie6.1 mi away

2%60

Vancouver73.1 mi away

2%59

Kent61.4 mi away

1%49

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%1,594

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

How far

How far Chehalis commutes

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

36%

24%

30%

36%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Chehalis is a job hub

1.83jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Chehalis are

6,686 jobs are based in Chehalis. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Chehalis’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Chehalis

6,686 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Chehalis residents hold

3,646 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month61%

+15%

Jobs based in Chehalis, 2013 → 2023: 5,825 → 6,686. 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.