Work & commute · Lacey

Work & commute in Lacey, WA

Most working residents leave Lacey for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Olympia (22%), Tumwater (8%) and Seattle (7%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

3,733 of 21,489 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 17,756 Lacey residents head out of town to work, 3,733 work right here, and 23,543 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lacey.

17,756live here, work elsewhere

3,733live and work here

23,543work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lacey goes to work

Olympia4.6 mi away

22%4,709

Lacey (in town)right here

17%3,733

Tumwater6.7 mi away

8%1,638

Seattle45 mi away

7%1,399

Tacoma21.5 mi away

5%1,114

Lakewood15.2 mi away

2%508

Bellevue48.7 mi away

2%340

Kent36.4 mi away

1%270

Everett69.5 mi away

1%213

Renton41.3 mi away

1%208

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%7,357

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

How far

How far Lacey commutes

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

52%

16%

19%

13%

52%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lacey 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 Lacey are

27,276 jobs are based in Lacey. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lacey’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lacey

27,276 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Lacey residents hold

21,489 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+48%

Jobs based in Lacey, 2013 → 2023: 18,455 → 27,276. 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.