Work & commute · Kent

Work & commute in Kent, WA

Most working residents leave Kent for work: only 15% work in town. The top destinations are Seattle (22%), Renton (8%) and Bellevue (5%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15%

8,688 of 58,751 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 50,063 Kent residents head out of town to work, 8,688 work right here, and 65,727 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kent.

50,063live here, work elsewhere

8,688live and work here

65,727work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kent goes to work

Seattle17.1 mi away

22%13,006

Kent (in town)right here

15%8,688

Renton6.2 mi away

8%4,936

Bellevue14.6 mi away

5%3,192

SeaTac5.4 mi away

5%3,036

Tukwila6.6 mi away

5%2,910

Auburn5.9 mi away

5%2,695

Tacoma15 mi away

3%1,859

Federal Way7.9 mi away

2%1,400

Redmond20.4 mi away

2%1,211

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%15,818

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

How far

How far Kent commutes

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

45%

43%

45%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

7%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kent is balanced between jobs and homes

1.27jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Kent are

74,415 jobs are based in Kent. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kent’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kent

74,415 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities31%

Services (health, schools, offices…)37%

$1,250 a month or less7%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month76%

Jobs Kent residents hold

58,751 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month71%

+25%

Jobs based in Kent, 2013 → 2023: 59,327 → 74,415. 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.