Work & commute · Key Center

Work & commute in Key Center, WA

Most working residents leave Key Center for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Tacoma (13%), Seattle (13%) and Gig Harbor (8%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

42 of 1,341 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

36 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,299 Key Center residents head out of town to work, 42 work right here, and 485 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Key Center.

1,299live here, work elsewhere

42live and work here

485work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Key Center goes to work

Tacoma14.4 mi away

13%177

Seattle27.3 mi away

13%171

Gig Harbor6.9 mi away

8%112

Purdy8.2 mi away

4%52

Key Center (in town)right here

3%42

Port Orchard15.5 mi away

3%40

Kent25.3 mi away

3%36

Lakewood15.2 mi away

2%33

Bremerton14.8 mi away

2%29

Bellevue33.2 mi away

2%25

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%624

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

How far

How far Key Center commutes

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

21%

45%

26%

21%Under 10 mi

45%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Key Center is a commuter town

0.39jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Key Center are

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

Jobs based in Key Center

527 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Key Center residents hold

1,341 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+50%

Jobs based in Key Center, 2013 → 2023: 352 → 527. 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.