Work & commute · SeaTac

Work & commute in SeaTac, WA

Most working residents leave SeaTac for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Seattle (31%), Kent (6%) and Renton (6%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

2,146 of 13,381 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 11,235 SeaTac residents head out of town to work, 2,146 work right here, and 38,770 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in SeaTac.

11,235live here, work elsewhere

2,146live and work here

38,770work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where SeaTac goes to work

Seattle12.4 mi away

31%4,181

SeaTac (in town)right here

16%2,146

Kent5.4 mi away

6%807

Renton5.4 mi away

6%778

Tukwila2.5 mi away

6%751

Bellevue12.5 mi away

5%620

Burien3.1 mi away

3%423

Tacoma15.2 mi away

2%322

Auburn10.5 mi away

2%254

Federal Way9.3 mi away

2%234

Everywhere elseother towns and states

21%2,865

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

How far

How far SeaTac commutes

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

52%

39%

52%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

SeaTac is a job hub

3.06jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in SeaTac are

40,916 jobs are based in SeaTac. Here is what they are, next to the jobs SeaTac’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in SeaTac

40,916 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities66%

Services (health, schools, offices…)29%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month68%

Jobs SeaTac residents hold

13,381 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+69%

Jobs based in SeaTac, 2013 → 2023: 24,162 → 40,916. 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.