Photo: Sam Beebe · CC BY 2.0At 3.3%, unemployment in Hood River is lower than in 65% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.5 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland. The two grades for Hood River are B− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. About one in three work in Hood River; the top destination outside it is Portland (7%, 56 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Hood River at work: what stands out
Hood River is where the jobs are
Hood River has 6,317 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Hood River are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oregon worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Hood River’s workers comes from The Dalles
525 of the people who work in Hood River live in The Dalles, 20 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Hood River draws workers from far and wide
The 6,317 jobs in Hood River are filled from a wide area. Hood River’s own residents hold 22% and the ten next-biggest home towns 23%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Hood River
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hood River is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #67 of 142 in Oregon. Unemployment holds Hood River’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hood River could be anywhere from C to B+.
Hood River on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,468 residents head out to work, 1,393 work right here, and 4,924 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Hood River on a workday afternoon, 30% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Getting to work from Hood River takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hood River workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,151 commuters (the 26% 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 daily trip into Hood River
Where Hood River clocks in
7% 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.
Inside Hood River’s 6,317 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hood River, 2013 → 2023: 5,066 → 6,317. 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 Hood River’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Hood River goes to work
About 30% 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.
Hood River is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hood River is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #2 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Hood River 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 4,244 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 42% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 73% 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). 11.5% of Hood River households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Hood River’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,200, Hood River ranks 1,702nd of 3,012 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 177 | Bull Mountain OR | 9,865 | $165K | 4.7% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 209 | Oak Hills OR | 11,131 | $127K | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 511 | Cedar Hills OR | 8,388 | $106K | 2.3% | 5.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,700 | Summit IL | 10,753 | $62K | 11.2% | 5.5% | 6% | B− |
| 1,701 | Pevely MO | 6,239 | $56K | 17.9% | 1.8% | 4% | B− |
| 1,702 | Hood River OR | 8,315 | $86K | 10.8% | 3.3% | 36% | B− |
| 1,703 | Thousand Palms CA | 7,720 | $77K | 9.2% | 5.2% | 7% | B− |
| 1,704 | Glenwood Springs CO | 10,395 | $91K | 7.9% | 4.5% | 35% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,012 | 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 Hood River, 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 Hood River: questions
What is the median household income in Hood River?
$85,647 (±$14,652) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hood River?
10.8%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hood River?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hood River work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (7%, 56 mi), The Dalles (7%, 20 mi), Odell (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hood River walkable?
Hood River is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.2 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hood River without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 42% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hood River, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hood River
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.