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

NapavineWinlockChehalisCentraliaTumwaterOlympiaLongviewLaceyKentSeattleVancouverTacomaFords PrairieRochesterCentraliaOlympiaSeattleTumwaterTacomaLaceyFords PrairieVancouverKentChehalis
1
Chehalis (in town)right here
17%606
2
Centralia4.3 mi away
11%413
3
Olympia26.2 mi away
7%239
4
Seattle72 mi away
6%226
5
Tumwater22.6 mi away
4%155
6
Tacoma47.1 mi away
4%132
7
Lacey27.3 mi away
3%113
8
Fords Prairie6.1 mi away
2%60
9
Vancouver73.1 mi away
2%59
10
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%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.

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01