Work & commute · Fords Prairie

Work & commute in Fords Prairie, WA

Most working residents leave Fords Prairie for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Centralia (18%), Chehalis (10%) and Olympia (6%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

23 of 987 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 964 Fords Prairie residents head out of town to work, 23 work right here, and 1,038 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Fords Prairie.

964live here, work elsewhere

23live and work here

1,038work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Fords Prairie goes to work

Centralia2.1 mi away

18%173

Chehalis6.1 mi away

10%97

Olympia20.8 mi away

6%61

Seattle67.5 mi away

5%48

Tacoma43.2 mi away

4%43

Tumwater17.1 mi away

4%39

Lacey22.5 mi away

3%28

Fords Prairie (in town)right here

2%23

Grand Mound3.6 mi away

2%21

Longview41.7 mi away

2%15

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%439

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

How far

How far Fords Prairie commutes

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

36%

18%

16%

30%

36%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Fords Prairie is balanced between jobs and homes

1.07jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Fords Prairie are

1,061 jobs are based in Fords Prairie. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Fords Prairie’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Fords Prairie

1,061 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)41%

Trade, transport & utilities51%

Services (health, schools, offices…)8%

$1,250 a month or less6%

$1,251–$3,333 a month15%

Over $3,333 a month79%

Jobs Fords Prairie residents hold

987 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+106%

Jobs based in Fords Prairie, 2013 → 2023: 516 → 1,061. 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.