Work & commute · Coulee

Work & commute in Coulee, WA

Most working residents leave Coulee for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Coulee (23%), Coulee Dam (8%) and Elmer City (4%). Half commute less than 35 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

6 of 185 working residents

Typical commute

35 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 179 Coulee residents head out of town to work, 6 work right here, and 88 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Coulee.

179live here, work elsewhere

6live and work here

88work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Coulee goes to work

Grand Coulee26.3 mi away

23%42

Coulee Dam28.6 mi away

8%15

Elmer City31.1 mi away

4%7

Coulee City (in town)right here

3%6

Spokane86.5 mi away

3%6

Ephrata23.6 mi away

3%5

Seattle142.6 mi away

3%5

Spokane Valley95.8 mi away

2%4

Kennewick97.9 mi away

2%4

Wenatchee50 mi away

2%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%88

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

How far

How far Coulee commutes

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

51%

37%

5%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

51%25–50 mi

37%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Coulee is a commuter town

0.51jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Coulee are

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

Jobs based in Coulee

94 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities36%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month45%

Jobs Coulee residents hold

185 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−39%

Jobs based in Coulee, 2013 → 2023: 153 → 94. 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.