Work & commute · Cheney

Work & commute in Cheney, WA

Most working residents leave Cheney for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Spokane (31%), Spokane Valley (11%) and Airway Heights (5%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

789 of 4,725 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,936 Cheney residents head out of town to work, 789 work right here, and 2,893 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cheney.

3,936live here, work elsewhere

789live and work here

2,893work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cheney goes to work

Spokane14 mi away

31%1,466

Cheney (in town)right here

17%789

Spokane Valley20.1 mi away

11%506

Airway Heights10.7 mi away

5%234

Seattle222.6 mi away

3%127

Medical Lake7.5 mi away

3%120

Liberty Lake25.4 mi away

1%61

Kent216.5 mi away

1%35

Bellevue213.5 mi away

1%34

Tacoma228.8 mi away

1%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

28%1,321

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

How far

How far Cheney commutes

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

28%

49%

19%

28%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cheney is balanced between jobs and homes

0.78jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cheney are

3,682 jobs are based in Cheney. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Cheney’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Cheney

3,682 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)88%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Cheney residents hold

4,725 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+10%

Jobs based in Cheney, 2013 → 2023: 3,347 → 3,682. 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.