Photo: Sarah McDevitt · CC BY 2.0Households in Camas earn more than those in 94% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Camas; the top destination outside it is Vancouver (28%, 8 miles). 5.0% of residents are in poverty, where Washington as a whole has 9.9%. Jobs and income earn Camas A; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Camas in brief
Camas trades workers with the towns around it
Camas has about as many jobs (10,011) as working residents (11,394), but they are mostly different people: 9,856 residents leave for work each day while 8,473 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Camas are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Camas and Vancouver trade workers both ways
Vancouver is the top workplace for Camas residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Camas come from (24% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Camas workers cross into Oregon
19% of Camas workers work outside Washington, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Portland (15%), Hillsboro (2%) and Gresham (1%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Camas pay over $40,000 a year
77% of the jobs based in Camas pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Camas has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Camas went from 6,520 in 2013 to 10,011 in 2023, +54%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Inside Camas’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Camas is better than 87% of U.S. towns, #49 of 285 in Washington. Household income is its strongest input ($141,126, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Camas could be anywhere from A− to A+.
How many people are in Camas by day
On a workday 9,856 residents head out to work, 1,538 work right here, and 8,473 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 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.
Where Camas goes to work
Where Camas clocks in
28% of workers
4% 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.
77% of the jobs in Camas pay over $3,333 a month
10,011 jobs are based in Camas.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Camas, 2013 → 2023: 6,520 → 10,011. 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 Camas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 25 minutes from Camas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Camas workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,777 commuters (the 27% 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 far Camas’ workers travel
About 20% 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.
The commute in Camas is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Camas is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #180 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 12,069 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 25% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 2.6% of Camas households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Camas’ commuters take a bus or train.
346th of 1,509: where Camas ranks among U.S. towns of 19,000 to 37,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Mercer Island WA | 25,422 | $219K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Bothell West WA | 22,029 | $153K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Cottage Lake WA | 22,518 | $213K | 3.2% | 4.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 344 | Lafayette CO | 30,116 | $119K | 5.6% | 3.8% | 10% | A |
| 345 | Woodridge IL | 34,028 | $101K | 5.5% | 4.2% | 5% | A |
| 346 | Camas WA | 27,749 | $141K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 13% | A |
| 347 | Bethel CT | 21,682 | $117K | 5.1% | 3.8% | 13% | A |
| 348 | Newington CT | 31,647 | $103K | 6.4% | 3.6% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,509 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Camas, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
The towns next door employ 30% of Camas
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Vancouver. Darker towns draw more of Camas’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 Camas: questions
What is the median household income in Camas?
$141,126 (±$6,631) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Camas?
5.0%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Camas?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Camas work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Vancouver (28%, 8 mi), Portland (15%, 12 mi), Seattle (4%, 139 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Camas walkable?
Camas is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Camas without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Camas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Camas
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.