Work & commute · Elma

Work & commute in Elma, WA

Most working residents leave Elma for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Olympia (8%), Seattle (7%) and Aberdeen (5%). Half commute less than 25 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

181 of 1,524 working residents

Typical commute

25 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 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 1,343 Elma residents head out of town to work, 181 work right here, and 1,271 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Elma.

1,343live here, work elsewhere

181live and work here

1,271work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Elma goes to work

Elma (in town)right here

12%181

Olympia24.4 mi away

8%120

Seattle65.3 mi away

7%101

Aberdeen19 mi away

5%77

Tumwater23.3 mi away

4%66

Lacey29 mi away

3%52

Tacoma47.9 mi away

3%51

Montesano8.3 mi away

3%41

McCleary7.6 mi away

2%36

Centralia28.2 mi away

2%31

Everywhere elseother towns and states

50%768

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

How far

How far Elma commutes

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

23%

26%

18%

33%

23%Under 10 mi

26%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

33%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Elma is balanced between jobs and homes

0.95jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.95 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Elma are

1,452 jobs are based in Elma. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Elma’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Elma

1,452 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)77%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Elma residents hold

1,524 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month63%

+38%

Jobs based in Elma, 2013 → 2023: 1,055 → 1,452. 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.