Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs and the daily commute in Wallowa
Commuters spend 21 minutes getting to work on average, next to 23 for Oregon and 26 for the U.S. 34% of workers have no commute at all; Oregon has 19%. About one in ten work in Wallowa; the top destination outside it is Enterprise (23%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Wallowa
Wallowa and Enterprise trade workers both ways
Enterprise is the top workplace for Wallowa residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Wallowa come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Wallowa works from home
34% of Wallowa workers work from home, against 19% across Oregon. 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; with 279 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where the trip to work from Wallowa ends
Where Wallowa clocks in
23% of workers
8% 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 Wallowa takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wallowa workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 182 commuters (the 34% 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.
A workday in Wallowa: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 247 residents head out to work, 32 work right here, and 135 people come in from elsewhere.
About 710 people are in Wallowa on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.60 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
What work there is in Wallowa: 167 jobs
167 jobs are based in Wallowa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wallowa, 2013 → 2023: 122 → 167. 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 Wallowa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Wallowa, by distance
About 29% 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.
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 Wallowa: questions
What is the median household income in Wallowa?
$47,371 (±$29,831) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wallowa?
10.4%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wallowa?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 34% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wallowa work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Enterprise (23%, 16 mi), Joseph (8%, 21 mi), La Grande (4%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Wallowa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wallowa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wallowa
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.