Work & commute · Olympia

Work & commute in Olympia, WA

About one in 3 of Olympia’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Lacey (11%), Tumwater (10%) and Seattle (6%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

34%

7,745 of 22,994 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 15,249 Olympia residents head out of town to work, 7,745 work right here, and 48,496 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Olympia.

15,249live here, work elsewhere

7,745live and work here

48,496work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Olympia goes to work

Olympia (in town)right here

34%7,745

Lacey4.6 mi away

11%2,416

Tumwater3.7 mi away

10%2,263

Seattle47.4 mi away

6%1,424

Tacoma25.1 mi away

4%967

Lakewood19.2 mi away

2%403

Bellevue51.7 mi away

1%333

Kent40.1 mi away

1%257

Everett71.6 mi away

1%211

Renton44.7 mi away

1%198

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%6,777

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

How far

How far Olympia commutes

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

59%

10%

18%

13%

59%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Olympia is a job hub

2.45jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Olympia are

56,241 jobs are based in Olympia. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Olympia’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Olympia

56,241 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)84%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month16%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Olympia residents hold

22,994 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)74%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month68%

+25%

Jobs based in Olympia, 2013 → 2023: 44,921 → 56,241. 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.