Photo: Crawford, J. G. -- Photographer · Public domainMost of Waterloo commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
33 jobs are based in Waterloo, against 233 working residents. Hardly any stay in Waterloo for work; outside it, Lebanon is the main destination (15%, 5 miles). The trip to work takes 34 minutes on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Waterloo: the figures worth knowing
Waterloo is a place people come home to
There are 33 jobs based in Waterloo, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Waterloo has about 30 people in it, 87% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Waterloo and Lebanon trade workers both ways
Lebanon is the top workplace for Waterloo residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Waterloo come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Waterloo workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 23 across Oregon. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 84 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; with 233 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The daily commute in and out of Waterloo
On a workday 233 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 33 people come in from elsewhere.
About 30 people are in Waterloo on a workday afternoon, 87% 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.
Where Waterloo’s working residents head each day
Where Waterloo clocks in
15% of workers
12% 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.
From Waterloo, about 34 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterloo workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 89 commuters (the 20% 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.
What Waterloo’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterloo, 2013 → 2023: 119 → 33. 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 Waterloo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Waterloo’s workers travel
About 20% 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 Waterloo: questions
What is the median household income in Waterloo?
$88,750 (±$25,554) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterloo?
3.5%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterloo?
34 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterloo work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lebanon (15%, 5 mi), Albany (12%, 16 mi), Corvallis (9%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Waterloo without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterloo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterloo
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.