Work & commute · Kelso

Work & commute in Kelso, WA

Most working residents leave Kelso for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Longview (22%), Vancouver (8%) and Portland (5%). Half commute less than 30 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

733 of 6,048 working residents

Typical commute

30 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 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 5,315 Kelso residents head out of town to work, 733 work right here, and 4,848 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kelso.

5,315live here, work elsewhere

733live and work here

4,848work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kelso goes to work

Longview4.2 mi away

22%1,357

Kelso (in town)right here

12%733

Vancouver36 mi away

8%475

Portland, OR41.6 mi away

5%299

Woodland15.1 mi away

3%184

Seattle106.8 mi away

3%173

Tacoma81 mi away

2%109

Kalama7.2 mi away

2%96

Olympia63.8 mi away

2%91

Hillsboro, OR40.9 mi away

1%61

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%2,470

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

How far

How far Kelso commutes

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

43%

24%

28%

43%Under 10 mi

6%10–24 mi

24%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kelso is balanced between jobs and homes

0.92jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.92 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Kelso are

5,581 jobs are based in Kelso. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kelso’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kelso

5,581 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month63%

Jobs Kelso residents hold

6,048 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+10%

Jobs based in Kelso, 2013 → 2023: 5,069 → 5,581. 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.