Work & commute · White Center

Work & commute in White Center, WA

Most working residents leave White Center for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Seattle (45%), Bellevue (6%) and SeaTac (5%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

112 of 7,230 working residents

Typical commute

7 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

20%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,118 White Center residents head out of town to work, 112 work right here, and 1,924 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in White Center.

7,118live here, work elsewhere

112live and work here

1,924work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where White Center goes to work

Seattle7.6 mi away

45%3,286

Bellevue10.8 mi away

6%408

SeaTac5.1 mi away

5%334

Tukwila4.1 mi away

4%323

Renton7.4 mi away

4%320

Kent10.4 mi away

4%309

Burien2.3 mi away

4%281

Tacoma18.5 mi away

2%159

Redmond15.9 mi away

2%145

White Center (in town)right here

2%112

Everywhere elseother towns and states

21%1,553

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

How far

How far White Center commutes

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

67%

25%

67%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

4%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

White Center is a commuter town

0.28jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in White Center are

2,036 jobs are based in White Center. Here is what they are, next to the jobs White Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in White Center

2,036 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)10%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs White Center residents hold

7,230 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month72%

+30%

Jobs based in White Center, 2013 → 2023: 1,568 → 2,036. 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.