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Work & commute in Inchelium · A commuter town

96% of Inchelium’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Inchelium for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Elmer City (14%), Nespelem (3%) and Coulee Dam (3%). Half commute less than 39 miles.

Work in town
4%
4 of 102 working residents
Typical commute
39 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
18 min
Less than WA (27 min)
Work from home
8%
Less than WA (20%)
Jobs based here
45
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Inchelium?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

14% of working residents work in Elmer City

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

HaydenPost Falls: 2 residents work here (2%)Nespelem: 3 residents work here (3%)Elmer City: 14 residents work here (14%)Coulee Dam: 3 residents work here (3%)ColvilleOmak: 2 residents work here (2%)Spokane ValleyRichland: 2 residents work here (2%)KennewickSpokane: 3 residents work here (3%)Seattle: 3 residents work here (3%)KellerNespelem Community: 3 residents work here (3%)IncheliumElmer CityNespelemCoulee DamSpokaneSeattleNespelem CommunityInchelium
1
Elmer City41.1 mi away
14%14
2
Inchelium (in town)right here
4%4
3
Nespelem36.1 mi away
3%3
4
Coulee Dam43.4 mi away
3%3
5
Spokane61.1 mi away
3%3
6
Seattle196.7 mi away
3%3
7
Nespelem Community39.5 mi away
3%3
8
Post Falls, ID74.6 mi away
2%2
9
Omak59.1 mi away
2%2
10
Richland151.7 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
62%63
The top trips

Where Inchelium clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Washington

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
138 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Inchelium18 min
Washington27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
8%

of Inchelium workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Inchelium quiets down on a workday

On a workday 98 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 41 people come in from elsewhere.

98live here, work elsewhere
4live and work here
41work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night460
Workday400
460live here− 98head out to work+ 41come in to work= 400on a workday

About 400 people are in Inchelium on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.44jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Inchelium commutes less than 39 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miElmer City: 14% · 41.1 miNespelem: 3% · 36.1 miCoulee Dam: 3% · 43.4 miSpokane: 3% · 61.1 miSeattle: 3% · 196.7 miNespelem Community: 3% · 39.5 miPost Falls: 2% · 74.6 miOmak: 2% · 59.1 miRichland: 2% · 151.7 miElmer City 14%Nespelem 3%Coulee Dam 3%Spokane 3%Inchelium
IncheliumTop destinations (size = commuters)
16%Under 10 mi16 residents
12%10–24 mi12 residents
42%25–50 mi43 residents
30%Over 50 mi31 residents

About 30% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

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

Jobs based in IncheliumJobs Inchelium residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%15%
Trade, transport & utilities16%6%
Services: health, schools, offices84%79%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less13%6%
$1,251–$3,333 a month18%34%
Over $3,333 a month69%60%

Who does it

29 or younger7%17%
30 to 5471%56%
55 and older22%27%
+18%

Jobs based in Inchelium, 2013 → 2023: 38 → 45. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Inchelium

Inchelium home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Inchelium, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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