Photo: Jcon64.28 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 6.5%, unemployment in Umatilla is higher than in 78% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Umatilla are C− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. For 3% of workers, the job is at home; Oregon has 19%. About one in ten stay in Umatilla for work; outside it, Hermiston is the main destination (23%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Umatilla stands out on work
Umatilla trades workers with the towns around it
Umatilla has about as many jobs (2,293) as working residents (2,607), but they are mostly different people: 2,319 residents leave for work each day while 2,005 people come in. Only 13% of the jobs in Umatilla are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Umatilla has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Umatilla went from 1,167 in 2013 to 2,293 in 2023, +96%. The jobs ↓
Umatilla and Hermiston trade workers both ways
Hermiston is the top workplace for Umatilla residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Umatilla come from (23% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Umatilla 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 ↓
Many of the people who work in Umatilla live in another state
Kennewick, WA (6%), Richland, WA (3%) and Pasco, WA (2%) are among the top places Umatilla’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 ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Umatilla’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Umatilla is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #117 of 142 in Oregon. Household income holds Umatilla’s grade up ($68,826, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.4%, U.S. 12.5%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Umatilla could be anywhere from D to B.
In and out of Umatilla on a workday
On a workday 2,319 residents head out to work, 288 work right here, and 2,005 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 (0.88 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.
69% of the jobs in Umatilla pay over $3,333 a month
2,293 jobs are based in Umatilla.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Umatilla, 2013 → 2023: 1,167 → 2,293. 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 Umatilla’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Out of Umatilla to work: where people go
Where Umatilla clocks in
23% of workers
6% 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.
Commuting from Umatilla: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Umatilla workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,925 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.
How many miles Umatilla commutes
About 19% 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.
In Umatilla, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Umatilla is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #128 of 142 in Oregon. 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 3,021 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 37% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 18% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 2.2% of Umatilla households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Umatilla’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,800 to 11,100, Umatilla ranks 2,590th of 2,956 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Bull Mountain OR | 9,865 | $165K | 4.7% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 499 | Cedar Hills OR | 8,388 | $106K | 2.3% | 5.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 517 | Rockcreek OR | 9,223 | $107K | 4.3% | 4.0% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,588 | Connellsville PA | 6,574 | $46K | 16.3% | 6.8% | 16% | C− |
| 2,589 | Frostburg MD | 6,979 | $53K | 28.8% | 6.7% | 19% | C− |
| 2,590 | Umatilla OR | 8,220 | $69K | 17.4% | 6.5% | 11% | C− |
| 2,591 | Georgetown Township IL | 7,100 | $57K | 19.4% | 5.4% | 9% | C− |
| 2,592 | Keokuk IA | 9,510 | $53K | 18.3% | 4.9% | 45% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,956 | 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 Umatilla, 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 Umatilla: questions
What is the median household income in Umatilla?
$68,826 (±$9,979) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Umatilla?
17.4%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Umatilla?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Umatilla work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hermiston (23%, 6 mi), Boardman (6%, 18 mi), Pendleton (4%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Umatilla walkable?
Umatilla is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Umatilla without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 18% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Umatilla, from the people who make the trip.
More of Umatilla
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.