Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Bellingham has higher unemployment (5.6%) than 69% of U.S. towns
The average commute takes 18 minutes each way, where Washington has 27 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Bellingham C; getting around on foot earns it A. About half stay in Bellingham for work; outside it, Seattle is the main destination (5%, 78 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bellingham: the gist
Inside Bellingham’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bellingham is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #238 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Bellingham’s grade up (ahead of 61% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.6%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bellingham could be anywhere from C− to C+.
The trip to work from Bellingham: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bellingham workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 42,950 commuters (the 15% 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.
Who leaves Bellingham for work, and who comes in
On a workday 18,024 residents head out to work, 18,700 work right here, and 30,740 people come in from elsewhere.
About 109,000 people are in Bellingham on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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.
Commuting out of Bellingham: the destinations
Where Bellingham clocks in
5% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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.
Jobs in Bellingham: what the 49,440 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bellingham, 2013 → 2023: 42,590 → 49,440. 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 Bellingham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Bellingham’s commute, mile by mile
About 24% 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 Bellingham, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bellingham is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #56 of 285 in Washington. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 16.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.9% across Washington, on an EPA index of 9.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 50,380 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 9.5% of Bellingham households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Bellingham’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Bellingham is 396th among 461 U.S. towns of 67,000 to 130,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| 3 | Bethesda MD | 69,397 | $192K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 16% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Kirkland WA | 97,410 | $150K | 6.1% | 4.6% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Redmond WA | 82,506 | $163K | 5.6% | 4.9% | 32% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | South Hill WA | 68,025 | $113K | 7.2% | 4.2% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 394 | Bryan TX | 91,996 | $59K | 23.0% | 5.0% | 32% | C |
| 395 | Capital Township IL | 111,143 | $66K | 16.9% | 6.8% | 62% | C |
| 396 | Bellingham WA | 96,395 | $67K | 18.6% | 5.6% | 51% | C |
| 397 | Roanoke VA | 99,111 | $55K | 18.3% | 5.6% | 43% | C |
| 398 | Greenville NC | 96,443 | $50K | 24.6% | 9.0% | 46% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 461 | Flint MI | 79,306 | $38K | 34.1% | 14.8% | 20% | 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 Bellingham, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Next door to Bellingham
The biggest share goes to Marietta-Alderwood (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Bellingham workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellingham | – | C | A | 18 min | $66,755 |
| Marietta-Alderwood | 1% | B+ | C+ | 18 min | $76,019 |
| Geneva | under 1% | B+ | C | 23 min | $142,188 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Bellingham’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 Bellingham: questions
What is the median household income in Bellingham?
$66,755 (±$3,771) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bellingham?
18.6%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bellingham?
18 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bellingham work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (5%, 78 mi), Ferndale (4%, 9 mi), Mount Vernon (2%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bellingham walkable?
Bellingham is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bellingham without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bellingham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bellingham
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.