Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0Damascus has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Employers in Damascus report 1,798 jobs for 4,699 working residents. Jobs and income earn Damascus A; getting around on foot earns it B. Measured by household income, Damascus is ahead of 89% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Damascus, in brief
Damascus has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Damascus went from 1,093 in 2013 to 1,798 in 2023, +65%. The jobs ↓
Damascus and Portland trade workers both ways
Portland is the top workplace for Damascus residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Damascus come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Damascus makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Damascus are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Damascus residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Damascus
69% of Damascus residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 50% of the jobs based in Damascus pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Damascus workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 23 across Oregon. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Damascus
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Damascus is better than 91% of U.S. towns, #8 of 142 in Oregon. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.2%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Damascus could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Damascus makes things: 38% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Damascus, 2013 → 2023: 1,093 → 1,798. 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 Damascus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
33% of working residents work in Portland
Where Damascus clocks in
7% of workers
3% 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.
Damascus’ commute takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Damascus workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,690 commuters (the 14% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Damascus on a workday afternoon
On a workday 4,524 residents head out to work, 175 work right here, and 1,623 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,500 people are in Damascus on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
Half of Damascus commutes less than 11 miles
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 Damascus walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Damascus is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #123 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Damascus 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 5,453 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 31% 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 3.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 3.2% of Damascus households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Damascus’ commuters take a bus or train.
380th of 2,507: where Damascus ranks among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 155 | Bull Mountain OR | 9,865 | $165K | 4.7% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 185 | Oak Hills OR | 11,131 | $127K | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 378 | South Kensington MD | 8,148 | $211K | 4.5% | 5.2% | 2% | A |
| 379 | Barberton WA | 8,668 | $134K | 3.7% | 3.8% | 2% | A |
| 380 | Damascus OR | 11,437 | $123K | 3.2% | 3.6% | 4% | A |
| 381 | Corte Madera CA | 9,929 | $233K | 4.6% | 4.2% | 7% | A |
| 382 | Clarendon Hills IL | 8,681 | $130K | 8.4% | 3.2% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 483 | Cedar Hills OR | 8,388 | $106K | 2.3% | 5.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Damascus, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
Around Damascus: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Happy Valley (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Damascus workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damascus | – | A | B | 28 min | $122,500 |
| Happy Valley | 3% | A− | A | 27 min | $122,151 |
| Boring | under 3% | A | C− | 51 min | $158,625 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Damascus’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Damascus: questions
What is the median household income in Damascus?
$122,500 (±$9,841) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Damascus?
3.2%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Damascus?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Damascus work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (33%, 13 mi), Gresham (7%, 5 mi), Happy Valley (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Damascus walkable?
Damascus is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Damascus without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Damascus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Damascus
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.