Photo: MIM1765 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Hermiston have lower incomes than those in 63% of U.S. towns
3% of workers have no commute at all, where Oregon as a whole has 19%. Poverty touches 10.1% of residents (Oregon 11.9%). For jobs and income Hermiston is better than 37% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (B+).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Hermiston, in a few figures
Few Hermiston workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 19% across Oregon. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Most Hermiston residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Hermiston
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Hermiston’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hermiston could be anywhere from C− to B.
About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oregon
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hermiston workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,585 commuters (the 3% 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.
The commute from Hermiston, by distance
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
Who leaves Hermiston for work, and who comes in
On a workday 5,383 residents head out to work, 2,755 work right here, and 4,757 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.92 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
6% of working residents work in Umatilla
Where Hermiston clocks in
6% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
Jobs in Hermiston: what the 7,512 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hermiston, 2013 → 2023: 7,203 → 7,512. 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 Hermiston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Hermiston, work means a drive
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.4% across Oregon.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,890 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 29% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 58% 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). 6.1% of Hermiston households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hermiston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hermiston ranks: 1,403rd of 1,860 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 27,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 398 | Sherwood OR | 20,535 | $110K | 4.3% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 442 | West Linn OR | 26,567 | $147K | 5.5% | 4.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 729 | Canby OR | 18,004 | $101K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,401 | Middle Township NJ | 19,990 | $84K | 12.0% | 6.2% | 29% | C+ |
| 1,402 | Festus MO | 14,066 | $74K | 17.1% | 6.6% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,403 | Hermiston OR | 19,906 | $67K | 10.1% | 4.9% | 34% | C+ |
| 1,404 | Sikeston MO | 15,983 | $59K | 14.2% | 3.5% | 44% | C+ |
| 1,405 | Kalamazoo Township MI | 22,523 | $58K | 11.6% | 6.3% | 6% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,860 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Hermiston, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
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 Hermiston: questions
What is the median household income in Hermiston?
$66,998 (±$3,849) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hermiston?
10.1%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hermiston?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hermiston work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Umatilla (6%, 6 mi), Boardman (4%, 20 mi), Pendleton (4%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hermiston walkable?
Hermiston is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 12.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hermiston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 29% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hermiston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hermiston
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.