Charles W. Orton House · Photo: Ben Cody · Public domainMore people are out of work in Alderton (11.8%) than in 97% of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are higher than in 75% of U.S. towns. Alderton grades B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 26% of workers; Washington has 20%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Alderton
Alderton makes and builds things
53% of the jobs based in Alderton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Alderton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 22%. The jobs ↓
Alderton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Alderton is Seattle, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (177) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Alderton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Washington. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 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.
Inside Alderton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alderton is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #191 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Alderton’s grade up (ahead of 80% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alderton could be anywhere from C to A−.
Making and building: 53% of jobs based in Alderton
729 jobs are based in Alderton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alderton, 2013 → 2023: 547 → 729. 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 Alderton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Alderton, by distance
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.
Each way, about 32 minutes from Alderton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alderton workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 902 commuters (the 26% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How a workday changes Alderton
On a workday 1,372 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 708 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Alderton on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.52 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.
13% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Alderton clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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.
Few in Alderton walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alderton is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns, #266 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.9% across Washington.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,219 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 51% 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). 1.7% of Alderton households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alderton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Alderton is 2,274th of 4,969 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Cathcart WA | 2,064 | $130K | 3.2% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,272 | Boggs Township PA | 2,686 | $68K | 11.3% | 1.9% | 12% | B− |
| 2,273 | Homewood SC | 2,708 | $65K | 21.4% | 0.0% | 2% | B− |
| 2,274 | Alderton WA | 2,706 | $97K | 11.1% | 11.8% | 2% | B− |
| 2,275 | Villa Grove IL | 2,447 | $71K | 7.2% | 3.9% | 8% | B− |
| 2,276 | Carrington ND | 1,950 | $77K | 9.7% | 1.4% | 45% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Alderton, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
13% of Alderton works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Puyallup (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Alderton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alderton | – | B− | C− | 32 min | $97,446 |
| Bonney Lake | under 3% | A | B | 32 min | $136,845 |
| Sumner | 6% | A− | A | 30 min | $98,191 |
| Puyallup | 7% | B+ | A− | 31 min | $97,826 |
| McMillin | under 3% | A+ | B | 29 min | $140,556 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Alderton’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 Alderton: questions
What is the median household income in Alderton?
$97,446 (±$30,445) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alderton?
11.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alderton?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alderton work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (13%, 31 mi), Tacoma (10%, 12 mi), Puyallup (7%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alderton walkable?
Alderton is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alderton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alderton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alderton
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.