Work & commute · Gig Harbor

Work & commute in Gig Harbor, WA

Most working residents leave Gig Harbor for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Tacoma (17%), Seattle (14%) and Purdy (4%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

436 of 4,634 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,198 Gig Harbor residents head out of town to work, 436 work right here, and 9,252 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Gig Harbor.

4,198live here, work elsewhere

436live and work here

9,252work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Gig Harbor goes to work

Tacoma8.7 mi away

17%796

Seattle22.7 mi away

14%667

Gig Harbor (in town)right here

9%436

Purdy4.1 mi away

4%185

Bellevue27.4 mi away

4%171

SeaTac15.9 mi away

4%167

Kent18.4 mi away

2%113

Lakewood12.4 mi away

2%89

Bremerton15.1 mi away

2%85

Olympia24.8 mi away

2%83

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%1,842

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

How far

How far Gig Harbor commutes

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

31%

46%

16%

31%Under 10 mi

46%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Gig Harbor is a job hub

2.09jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Gig Harbor are

9,688 jobs are based in Gig Harbor. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gig Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Gig Harbor

9,688 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Gig Harbor residents hold

4,634 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+36%

Jobs based in Gig Harbor, 2013 → 2023: 7,112 → 9,688. 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.