Columbia College · Photo: Ian Poellet · CC BY-SA 3.0Milton-Freewater has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Milton-Freewater D; getting around on foot earns it A+. Employers in Milton-Freewater report 1,432 jobs for 2,828 working residents. Measured by household income, Milton-Freewater is behind 85% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Milton-Freewater, in a few figures
A lot of Milton-Freewater workers cross into Washington
27% of Milton-Freewater workers work outside Oregon, most of them in Washington, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Many of the people who work in Milton-Freewater live in another state
Walla Walla, WA (8%), College Place, WA (3%) and Pasco, WA (1%) are among the top places Milton-Freewater’s workers come from. Counting only the top ten home towns, 12% of the jobs here are held by people from out of state. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Milton-Freewater 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 ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Milton-Freewater’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Milton-Freewater is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #123 of 142 in Oregon. The poverty rate holds Milton-Freewater’s grade up (12.6%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($52,183, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Milton-Freewater could be anywhere from D to B−.
22% of working residents work in Walla Walla
Where Milton-Freewater clocks in
22% 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.
Getting to work from Milton-Freewater takes about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milton-Freewater workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,901 commuters (the 6% 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.
Milton-Freewater on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,257 residents head out to work, 571 work right here, and 861 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,600 people are in Milton-Freewater on a workday afternoon, 20% 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 2024, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Milton-Freewater
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milton-Freewater, 2014 → 2024: 1,823 → 1,432. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Milton-Freewater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Milton-Freewater
About 21% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Milton-Freewater is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Milton-Freewater is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns, #14 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Milton-Freewater 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 3,081 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, 50% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 11.8% of Milton-Freewater households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Milton-Freewater’s commuters take a bus or train.
Milton-Freewater next to U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 413 | Creswell OR | 5,566 | $100K | 4.3% | 0.8% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 504 | Cedar Hills OR | 8,388 | $106K | 2.3% | 5.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 520 | Rockcreek OR | 9,223 | $107K | 4.3% | 4.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,905 | Hillsboro OH | 6,763 | $56K | 21.7% | 5.3% | 25% | D |
| 2,906 | Sallisaw OK | 8,790 | $48K | 29.5% | 4.8% | 33% | D |
| 2,907 | Milton-Freewater OR | 7,029 | $52K | 12.6% | 7.3% | 20% | D |
| 2,908 | Warsaw NY | 5,218 | $57K | 20.0% | 5.5% | 32% | D |
| 2,909 | Aztec NM | 6,091 | $42K | 25.9% | 4.5% | 15% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,227 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Milton-Freewater, 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 2024, 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 Milton-Freewater: questions
What is the median household income in Milton-Freewater?
$52,183 (±$16,520) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milton-Freewater?
12.6%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milton-Freewater?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milton-Freewater work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Walla Walla (22%, 10 mi), Weston (4%, 8 mi), Pendleton (4%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Milton-Freewater walkable?
Milton-Freewater is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milton-Freewater without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 50% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milton-Freewater, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milton-Freewater
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.