Photo: Tamanoeconomico · CC BY-SA 4.0Payette has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
For jobs and income Payette is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (B). 1,779 jobs are based in Payette, against 3,373 working residents. Measured by household income, Payette is behind 81% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Payette apart
A lot of Payette workers cross into Oregon
36% of Payette workers work outside Idaho, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Ontario (20%) is one of the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Few Payette workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 13% across Idaho. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Payette’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Payette’s grade up (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Payette could be anywhere from D to B−.
20% of working residents work in Ontario
Where Payette clocks in
20% of workers
11% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Payette’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Payette workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,450 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% 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.
Payette quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,887 residents head out to work, 486 work right here, and 1,293 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,200 people are in Payette on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
What Payette’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Payette, 2013 → 2023: 1,559 → 1,779. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Payette’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Payette’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Payette walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,514 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.6% of Payette households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Payette’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Payette is 2,551st of 2,878 U.S. towns of 6,200 to 11,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,408 | Hailey ID | 10,053 | $91K | 7.4% | 2.3% | 30% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,645 | Fruitland ID | 7,213 | $65K | 8.8% | 1.8% | 18% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,917 | Sandpoint ID | 10,645 | $72K | 14.6% | 2.5% | 44% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,549 | Silsbee TX | 6,613 | $60K | 20.0% | 7.3% | 17% | C− |
| 2,550 | Oak Hill WV | 7,629 | $52K | 21.7% | 4.6% | 12% | C− |
| 2,551 | Payette ID | 8,813 | $55K | 13.9% | 5.2% | 14% | C− |
| 2,552 | Darby PA | 10,666 | $40K | 30.0% | 18.5% | 2% | C− |
| 2,553 | Rushville Township IN | 7,672 | $58K | 15.4% | 6.4% | 25% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | 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 Payette, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. 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 Payette: questions
What is the median household income in Payette?
$55,208 (±$5,636) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Payette?
13.9%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Payette?
22 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Payette work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ontario (20%, 4 mi), Boise City (11%, 48 mi), Fruitland (9%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Payette walkable?
Payette is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Payette without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Payette, from the people who make the trip.
More of Payette
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. 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.