Photo: Land Design North · Public domainMore people are out of work in Palmer (6.9%) than in 82% of U.S. towns
The trip to work takes 27 minutes on average, where Alaska has 19 and the U.S. 26. Palmer grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 55% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Inside Palmer’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palmer is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #35 of 41 in Alaska. Household income holds Palmer’s grade up ($72,201, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palmer could be anywhere from D to C+.
How long Palmer spends getting to work: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palmer workers work from home, vs 10% across Alaska. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,653 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Alaska: 72% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Palmer
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palmer is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #13 of 41 in Alaska. Both inputs place Palmer near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,903 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.0% of Palmer households have no vehicle (Alaska 9.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Palmer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Palmer next to U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,100: 2,728th of 3,253 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 587 | Steele Creek AK | 5,928 | $121K | 3.3% | 0.5% | — | A |
| … | |||||||
| 833 | Farmers Loop AK | 4,954 | $110K | 1.8% | 2.8% | — | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,117 | Gateway AK | 6,845 | $138K | 4.5% | 3.8% | — | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,726 | Turtle Creek PA | 4,865 | $46K | 17.6% | 16.1% | 4% | C− |
| 2,727 | Hamilton AL | 6,769 | $55K | 16.7% | 3.9% | 33% | C− |
| 2,728 | Palmer AK | 6,710 | $72K | 13.0% | 6.9% | — | C− |
| 2,729 | Tillamook OR | 5,162 | $58K | 11.8% | 4.8% | 31% | C− |
| 2,730 | White River Township IN | 7,169 | $59K | 14.2% | 5.9% | 29% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,253 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Palmer, the top three, the last and three more from Alaska.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Palmer: questions
What is the median household income in Palmer?
$72,201 (±$6,849) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $92,788 across Alaska and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palmer?
13.0%, against 10.1% across Alaska and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palmer?
27 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Alaska and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Is Palmer walkable?
Palmer is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palmer without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palmer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palmer
Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.