Work & commute · College Place

Work & commute in College Place, WA

Most working residents leave College Place for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Walla Walla (45%), Spokane (3%) and Kennewick (3%). Half commute less than 3 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

424 of 3,383 working residents

Typical commute

3 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

13 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,959 College Place residents head out of town to work, 424 work right here, and 1,721 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in College Place.

2,959live here, work elsewhere

424live and work here

1,721work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where College Place goes to work

Walla Walla3.2 mi away

45%1,525

College Place (in town)right here

13%424

Spokane121.1 mi away

3%117

Kennewick39 mi away

3%104

Pasco38.2 mi away

2%67

Spokane Valley124.7 mi away

2%63

Milton-Freewater, OR7.4 mi away

2%58

Richland46.4 mi away

2%54

Seattle216.5 mi away

1%48

Yakima109.7 mi away

1%35

Everywhere elseother towns and states

26%888

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

How far

How far College Place commutes

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

67%

22%

67%Under 10 mi

1%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

College Place is a commuter town

0.63jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in College Place are

2,145 jobs are based in College Place. Here is what they are, next to the jobs College Place’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in College Place

2,145 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities32%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs College Place residents hold

3,383 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

+33%

Jobs based in College Place, 2013 → 2023: 1,614 → 2,145. 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.