Work & commute · Port Townsend

Work & commute in Port Townsend, WA

40% of Port Townsend’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Seattle (8%), Port Hadlock-Irondale (2%) and Port Angeles (2%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

40%

1,464 of 3,649 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 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 2,185 Port Townsend residents head out of town to work, 1,464 work right here, and 2,985 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Port Townsend.

2,185live here, work elsewhere

1,464live and work here

2,985work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Port Townsend goes to work

Port Townsend (in town)right here

40%1,464

Seattle40.2 mi away

8%308

Port Hadlock-Irondale6.2 mi away

2%70

Port Angeles30.5 mi away

2%66

Tacoma62 mi away

2%61

Bellevue46.5 mi away

2%55

Olympia74.9 mi away

1%44

Everett29.8 mi away

1%42

Kirkland39.9 mi away

1%36

Sequim14.1 mi away

1%32

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%1,471

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

How far

How far Port Townsend commutes

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

51%

26%

19%

51%Under 10 mi

4%10–24 mi

26%25–50 mi

19%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Port Townsend is balanced between jobs and homes

1.22jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Port Townsend are

4,449 jobs are based in Port Townsend. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Port Townsend’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Port Townsend

4,449 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Port Townsend residents hold

3,649 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+8%

Jobs based in Port Townsend, 2013 → 2023: 4,135 → 4,449. 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.