Work & commute · Puyallup

Work & commute in Puyallup, WA

Most working residents leave Puyallup for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Tacoma (13%), Seattle (11%) and Kent (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

2,284 of 20,106 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 17,822 Puyallup residents head out of town to work, 2,284 work right here, and 27,112 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Puyallup.

17,822live here, work elsewhere

2,284live and work here

27,112work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Puyallup goes to work

Tacoma9.4 mi away

13%2,650

Puyallup (in town)right here

11%2,284

Seattle30.6 mi away

11%2,211

Kent15 mi away

5%1,029

Auburn9.5 mi away

5%953

Sumner4.5 mi away

4%771

Renton21.2 mi away

3%637

Lakewood11.2 mi away

3%594

Federal Way9.4 mi away

3%552

Fife4.6 mi away

3%542

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%7,883

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

How far

How far Puyallup commutes

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

44%

27%

22%

44%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Puyallup is balanced between jobs and homes

1.46jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.46 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Puyallup are

29,396 jobs are based in Puyallup. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Puyallup’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Puyallup

29,396 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs Puyallup residents hold

20,106 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+29%

Jobs based in Puyallup, 2013 → 2023: 22,832 → 29,396. 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.