Burien has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Burien B; getting around on foot earns it A+. There are 12,982 jobs in Burien, and 22,676 of its residents work somewhere. Only 6% work in Burien; the top destination outside it is Seattle (40%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Burien: the figures worth knowing
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Burien
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Burien is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #171 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Burien’s grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (7.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Burien could be anywhere from B− to B+.
Who leaves Burien for work, and who comes in
On a workday 21,225 residents head out to work, 1,451 work right here, and 11,531 people come in from elsewhere.
About 42,000 people are in Burien on a workday afternoon, 19% 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.
Out of Burien to work: where people go
Where Burien clocks in
40% 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.
The kinds of work in Burien
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Burien, 2013 → 2023: 13,022 → 12,982. 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 Burien’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Burien: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Burien workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 20,989 commuters (the 19% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Burien
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.
Burien is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 25,785 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 47% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 23.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 98% 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). 8.9% of Burien households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Burien’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 36,000 to 70,000, Burien ranks 553rd of 862 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Oakton VA | 36,528 | $161K | 4.6% | 1.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Sammamish WA | 66,110 | $240K | 4.3% | 3.1% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Issaquah WA | 39,423 | $155K | 5.2% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 98 | Bothell WA | 52,199 | $140K | 4.8% | 3.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 551 | Stickney Township IL | 40,266 | $78K | 12.1% | 6.3% | 9% | B |
| 552 | Sanford FL | 67,483 | $67K | 11.9% | 4.0% | 16% | B |
| 553 | Burien WA | 51,859 | $91K | 12.9% | 7.0% | 6% | B |
| 554 | Baldwin Park CA | 68,880 | $81K | 13.5% | 6.0% | 7% | B |
| 555 | Grand Forks ND | 60,365 | $64K | 15.5% | 2.4% | 70% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 862 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Burien, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Burien and its neighbors: 50% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Burien workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burien | – | B | A+ | 27 min | $91,318 |
| SeaTac | 6% | B | A+ | 25 min | $81,104 |
| Tukwila | 4% | B− | A | 25 min | $78,381 |
| Normandy Park | under 2% | A+ | A | 25 min | $162,476 |
| Boulevard Park | under 2% | B− | A | 24 min | $78,954 |
| White Center | under 2% | B | A+ | 30 min | $87,189 |
| Seattle | 40% | A− | A+ | 26 min | $123,860 |
| Des Moines | under 2% | B− | A | 31 min | $92,483 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Seattle. Darker towns draw more of Burien’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 Burien: questions
What is the median household income in Burien?
$91,318 (±$3,494) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Burien?
12.9%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Burien?
27 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Burien work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (40%, 10 mi), SeaTac (6%, 3 mi), Bellevue (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Burien walkable?
Burien is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Burien without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 47% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Burien, from the people who make the trip.
More of Burien
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.