Big Lake has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
For jobs and income Big Lake is better than 63% of U.S. towns (B); for walkability it is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (C−). There are 129 jobs in Big Lake, against 1,290 working residents. Measured by household income, Big Lake is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Big Lake: the gist
Why Big Lake gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Household income holds Big Lake’s grade up ($109,286, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Big Lake’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Big Lake could be anywhere from C to A−.
A workday in Big Lake: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,277 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 116 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Big Lake on a workday afternoon, 50% 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 2024, primary jobs.
19% of working residents work in Mount Vernon
Where Big Lake clocks in
19% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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.
Big Lake makes things: 32% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Big Lake, 2014 → 2024: 75 → 129. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Big Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Big Lake, about 29 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Big Lake workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 796 commuters (the 10% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Big Lake
About 27% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of Big Lake, work means a drive
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.9% across Washington, on an EPA index of 4.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 882 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). 2.1% of Big Lake households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Big Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,328 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100, Big Lake comes 1,584th 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Cathcart WA | 2,064 | $130K | 3.2% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Meadow Glade WA | 2,281 | $129K | 2.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,582 | Sevastopol WI | 2,835 | $89K | 8.1% | 1.4% | 11% | B |
| 1,583 | Wanchese NC | 1,956 | $89K | 6.3% | 1.9% | 18% | B |
| 1,584 | Big Lake WA | 2,326 | $109K | 5.1% | 0.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,585 | Sleepy Hollow WY | 1,632 | $121K | 10.4% | 1.9% | <1% | B |
| 1,586 | Clay Township IN | 2,920 | $89K | 4.0% | 4.0% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Big Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
The towns next door employ 19% of Big Lake
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Big Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Lake | – | B | C− | 29 min | $109,286 |
| Mount Vernon | 19% | C | B+ | 23 min | $75,777 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Mount Vernon. Darker towns draw more of Big 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 2024, 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 Big Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Big Lake?
$109,286 (±$41,861) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Big Lake?
5.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Big Lake?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Big Lake work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Vernon (19%, 4 mi), Seattle (9%, 54 mi), Burlington (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Big Lake walkable?
Big Lake is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Big Lake 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 Big Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Big Lake
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.