Work & commute · Yelm

Work & commute in Yelm, WA

Most working residents leave Yelm for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Tacoma (9%), Olympia (9%) and Lacey (7%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

259 of 3,783 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

34 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,524 Yelm residents head out of town to work, 259 work right here, and 1,948 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Yelm.

3,524live here, work elsewhere

259live and work here

1,948work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Yelm goes to work

Tacoma23.1 mi away

9%344

Olympia13.7 mi away

9%323

Lacey10.1 mi away

7%266

Yelm (in town)right here

7%259

Seattle48.7 mi away

6%217

Lakewood16.2 mi away

5%179

Tumwater13.3 mi away

4%153

Puyallup23.3 mi away

2%73

Fife24.3 mi away

2%69

Bellevue50.7 mi away

2%69

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%1,831

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

How far

How far Yelm commutes

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

17%

50%

18%

14%

17%Under 10 mi

50%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Yelm is a commuter town

0.58jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Yelm are

2,207 jobs are based in Yelm. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Yelm’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Yelm

2,207 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities33%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month44%

Jobs Yelm residents hold

3,783 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

−9%

Jobs based in Yelm, 2013 → 2023: 2,437 → 2,207. 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.