Cox-Williams House · Photo: Ian Poellet (User:Werewombat) · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of St. Helens commutes out: there are 0.5 jobs for every working resident
Employers in St. Helens report 3,776 jobs; 6,942 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn St. Helens C+; getting around on foot earns it A−. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set St. Helens apart
St. Helens’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside St. Helens is Portland, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 27% of working residents (1,866) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
St. Helens workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 23 across Oregon. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 54 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.
Why St. Helens gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, St. Helens is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #76 of 142 in Oregon. Household income holds St. Helens’ grade up ($82,865, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, St. Helens could be anywhere from C to B.
How many miles St. Helens commutes
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.
The daily trip from St. Helens: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Helens workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,536 commuters (the 13% 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.
In and out of St. Helens on a workday
On a workday 5,828 residents head out to work, 1,114 work right here, and 2,662 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in St. Helens on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
27% of working residents work in Portland
Where St. Helens clocks in
8% 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.
What St. Helens’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Helens, 2013 → 2023: 3,481 → 3,776. 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 St. Helens’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In St. Helens, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Helens is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #84 of 142 in Oregon. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% 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 6,376 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, 25% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 6.0% of St. Helens households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of St. Helens’ commuters take a bus or train.
St. Helens is 1,591st of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 189 | Oak Hills OR | 11,131 | $127K | 3.4% | 3.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 383 | Damascus OR | 11,437 | $123K | 3.2% | 3.6% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 884 | Canby OR | 18,004 | $101K | 7.9% | 4.0% | 15% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,589 | Brewster MA | 10,457 | $103K | 6.8% | 10.9% | 15% | C+ |
| 1,590 | Chicago Ridge IL | 14,036 | $69K | 20.4% | 5.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,591 | St. Helens OR | 14,450 | $83K | 10.0% | 3.6% | 16% | C+ |
| 1,592 | Richton Park IL | 12,483 | $65K | 8.8% | 11.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,593 | Chenango NY | 10,594 | $87K | 9.1% | 8.4% | 9% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | 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 St. Helens, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
How St. Helens compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | St. Helens workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Helens | – | C+ | A− | 30 min | $82,865 |
| Columbia City | under 2% | B− | B+ | 29 min | $96,750 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of St. Helens’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 St. Helens: questions
What is the median household income in St. Helens?
$82,865 (±$4,204) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Helens?
10.0%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Helens?
30 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Helens work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Portland (27%, 24 mi), Hillsboro (8%, 24 mi), Beaverton (3%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is St. Helens walkable?
St. Helens is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Helens without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 25% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from St. Helens, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Helens
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.