Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0Pendleton’s household incomes are lower than in 64% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C: better than 26% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #105 of 142 in Oregon.
Walkability A: more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns · #69 of 142 in Oregon.
Working residents average 14 minutes each way (Oregon 23, U.S. 26). About half work in Pendleton; the top destination outside it is Mission (12%, 8 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.0 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 19.6 in Portland (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Pendleton
Commutes from Pendleton are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 23 across Oregon. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Oregon worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Pendleton go to people who live here
Of the 7,626 jobs based in Pendleton, 45% are held by Pendleton residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
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’s behind Pendleton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pendleton is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #105 of 142 in Oregon. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Pendleton’s grade.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pendleton could be anywhere from D to B−.
About 14 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oregon
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pendleton workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,119 commuters (the 8% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 3,875 residents head out to work, 3,428 work right here, and 4,198 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 (1.04 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.
12% of working residents work in Mission
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Pendleton clocks in
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 7,626 jobs in Pendleton are
7,626 jobs are based in Pendleton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pendleton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pendleton, 2013 → 2023: 7,666 → 7,626. 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.
Half of Pendleton commutes less than 5 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 18% 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.
Pendleton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pendleton is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns, #69 of 142 in Oregon. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.6% 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 6,647 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 81% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 42% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 68% 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). 6.5% of Pendleton households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Pendleton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pendleton is 1,669th of 1,999 U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pendleton, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 401 | Sherwood OR | 20,535 | $110K | 4.3% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 763 | Canby OR | 18,004 | $101K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 826 | Oatfield OR | 13,294 | $103K | 9.8% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,667 | Hanover PA | 16,684 | $61K | 14.5% | 8.9% | 19% | C |
| 1,668 | Herrin IL | 12,268 | $60K | 14.5% | 5.9% | 17% | C |
| 1,669 | Pendleton OR | 16,989 | $67K | 15.0% | 4.9% | 47% | C |
| 1,670 | Milford DE | 14,723 | $59K | 17.2% | 5.1% | 22% | C |
| 1,671 | Carencro LA | 13,224 | $63K | 24.5% | 6.7% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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.
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 Pendleton: questions
What is the median household income in Pendleton?
$66,563 (±$6,698) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pendleton?
15.0%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pendleton?
14 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pendleton work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mission (12%, 8 mi), Hermiston (4%, 25 mi), Portland (3%, 185 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pendleton walkable?
Pendleton is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pendleton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 42% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pendleton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pendleton
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.