Work & commute · Tumwater

Work & commute in Tumwater, WA

Most working residents leave Tumwater for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Olympia (28%), Lacey (9%) and Seattle (6%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

1,839 of 11,090 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

28%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 9,251 Tumwater residents head out of town to work, 1,839 work right here, and 22,172 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Tumwater.

9,251live here, work elsewhere

1,839live and work here

22,172work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Tumwater goes to work

Olympia3.7 mi away

28%3,147

Tumwater (in town)right here

17%1,839

Lacey6.7 mi away

9%1,010

Seattle51 mi away

6%610

Tacoma28.1 mi away

4%439

Lakewood21.9 mi away

2%191

Bellevue55.1 mi away

1%149

Centralia18.4 mi away

1%107

Kent43.1 mi away

1%103

Everett75.3 mi away

1%102

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%3,393

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

How far

How far Tumwater commutes

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

58%

10%

16%

15%

58%Under 10 mi

10%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Tumwater is a job hub

2.17jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Tumwater are

24,011 jobs are based in Tumwater. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Tumwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Tumwater

24,011 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month17%

Over $3,333 a month75%

Jobs Tumwater residents hold

11,090 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month70%

+44%

Jobs based in Tumwater, 2013 → 2023: 16,701 → 24,011. 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.