Work & commute · Fairchild AFB

Work & commute in Fairchild AFB, WA

Most working residents leave Fairchild AFB for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Spokane (25%), Seattle (9%) and Spokane Valley (6%). Half commute less than 40 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

8 of 398 working residents

Typical commute

40 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

10 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 390 Fairchild AFB residents head out of town to work, 8 work right here, and 242 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fairchild AFB.

390live here, work elsewhere

8live and work here

242work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fairchild AFB goes to work

Spokane10.6 mi away

25%99

Seattle219 mi away

9%36

Spokane Valley19.6 mi away

6%24

Medical Lake3.8 mi away

4%15

Coeur d'Alene, ID40.1 mi away

3%12

Airway Heights3.7 mi away

3%12

Bellevue210 mi away

2%8

Tacoma226.2 mi away

2%8

Fairchild AFB (in town)right here

2%8

Redmond207.9 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%169

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

How far

How far Fairchild AFB commutes

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

16%

32%

46%

16%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

46%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fairchild AFB 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 Fairchild AFB are

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

Jobs based in Fairchild AFB

250 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)1%

Trade, transport & utilities33%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Fairchild AFB residents hold

398 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month57%

−71%

Jobs based in Fairchild AFB, 2013 → 2023: 848 → 250. 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.