Work & commute · Wauna

Work & commute in Wauna, WA

Most working residents leave Wauna for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Tacoma (14%), Seattle (12%) and Gig Harbor (8%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

43 of 1,826 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

16%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,783 Wauna residents head out of town to work, 43 work right here, and 496 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wauna.

1,783live here, work elsewhere

43live and work here

496work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wauna goes to work

Tacoma13.3 mi away

14%248

Seattle22.1 mi away

12%213

Gig Harbor4.6 mi away

8%150

Purdy3.2 mi away

4%72

Kent21.3 mi away

3%58

Bellevue28.1 mi away

3%48

Bremerton11.1 mi away

2%43

Wauna (in town)right here

2%43

Lakewood16.5 mi away

2%41

Puyallup22.6 mi away

2%40

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%870

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

How far

How far Wauna commutes

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

22%

55%

16%

22%Under 10 mi

55%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wauna is a commuter town

0.30jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.30 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Wauna are

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

Jobs based in Wauna

539 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities29%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Wauna residents hold

1,826 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+151%

Jobs based in Wauna, 2013 → 2023: 215 → 539. 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.