Household incomes in Ames Lake are among the highest of any U.S. town
The two grades for Ames Lake are A+ for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. 1.1% of residents live below the poverty line (Washington 9.9%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ames Lake at work: what stands out
Ames Lake is a place people come home to
There are 76 jobs based in Ames Lake, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Ames Lake has about 580 people in it, 54% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Home offices are common in Ames Lake
37% of Ames Lake workers work from home, against 20% across Washington. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Ames Lake workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Ames Lake’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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 743 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Ames Lake’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Ames Lake is among the top U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($250,000+, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 77% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (3.1%) is left out: Ames Lake’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
The Census reports Ames Lake’s median household income as $250,000+, the top of its scale; the grade ranks it as tied with the 111 other graded places at that ceiling.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ames Lake stays A+.
Who works in Ames Lake, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 740 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 73 people come in from elsewhere.
About 580 people are in Ames Lake on a workday afternoon, 54% fewer than live here.
0.10 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.
The daily trip from Ames Lake: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ames Lake workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 433 commuters (the 37% 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.
91% of the jobs in Ames Lake pay over $3,333 a month
76 jobs are based in Ames Lake.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ames Lake, 2013 → 2023: 45 → 76. 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 Ames Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
22% of working residents work in Redmond
Where Ames Lake clocks in
22% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Ames Lake
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 Ames Lake, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ames Lake is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.9% across Washington, on an EPA index of 4.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 689 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 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). 6.3% of Ames Lake households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Ames Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Ames Lake ranks: 38th of 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Yarrow Point WA | 1,143 | $250K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 0% | A+ |
| 21 | Woodway WA | 1,316 | $205K | 2.1% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Shoreacres TX | 1,535 | $131K | 3.2% | 2.2% | 1% | A+ |
| 37 | Fife Heights WA | 1,446 | $157K | 2.4% | 4.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 38 | Ames Lake WA | 1,245 | $250K | 1.1% | 3.1% | <1% | A+ |
| 39 | Bannockburn IL | 1,308 | $214K | 5.1% | 1.8% | 5% | A+ |
| 40 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | McMillin WA | 1,348 | $141K | 2.3% | 4.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Ames Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Around Ames Lake: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Union Hill-Novelty Hill (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ames Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ames Lake | – | A+ | B− | 29 min | $250,000+ |
| Union Hill-Novelty Hill | 4% | A− | A | 28 min | $185,369 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ames Lake’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Ames Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Ames Lake?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ames Lake?
1.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ames Lake?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 37% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ames Lake work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Redmond (22%, 8 mi), Seattle (22%, 18 mi), Bellevue (13%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ames Lake walkable?
Ames Lake is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 4.5 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ames Lake without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ames Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ames Lake
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.