How Castle Rock works: jobs, income and commuting
Only 7% stay in Castle Rock for work; outside it, Longview is the main destination (18%, 9 miles). Jobs and income earn Castle Rock C+; getting around on foot earns it C+. Home is the office for 7% of workers (Washington 20%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Castle Rock: the figures worth knowing
Castle Rock and Longview trade workers both ways
Longview is the top workplace for Castle Rock residents (18%) and also where the most people who work in Castle Rock come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Castle Rock
66% of Castle Rock residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Castle Rock pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Castle Rock’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Castle Rock is better than 43% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Castle Rock’s grade up (7.0%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 26% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (7.6%) is left out: Castle Rock’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Castle Rock could be anywhere from C− to B.
Where people from Castle Rock work
Where Castle Rock clocks in
18% of workers
8% of workers
7% 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.
Inside Castle Rock’s 781 jobs
781 jobs are based in Castle Rock.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Castle Rock, 2014 → 2024: 598 → 781. 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 Castle Rock’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Castle Rock
About 35% 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.
Castle Rock quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,076 residents head out to work, 75 work right here, and 706 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Castle Rock on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.68 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 2024, primary jobs.
From Castle Rock, about 28 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Castle Rock workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 773 commuters (the 7% 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.
Castle Rock is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Castle Rock is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 834 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). 3.3% of Castle Rock households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Castle Rock’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300, Castle Rock ranks 2,704th of 5,207 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Cathcart WA | 2,064 | $130K | 3.2% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,702 | Fairmont IL | 2,617 | $71K | 15.6% | 7.1% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,703 | Desert Aire WA | 2,788 | $86K | 7.8% | 4.5% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,704 | Castle Rock WA | 2,442 | $70K | 7.0% | 7.6% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,705 | South Arm Township MI | 1,932 | $84K | 7.9% | 3.1% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,706 | Scioto Township OH | 1,962 | $73K | 5.5% | 5.1% | 1% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | 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 Castle Rock, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
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 Castle Rock: questions
What is the median household income in Castle Rock?
$69,639 (±$11,397) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Castle Rock?
7.0%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Castle Rock?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Castle Rock work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Longview (18%, 9 mi), Vancouver (8%, 46 mi), Kelso (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Castle Rock walkable?
Castle Rock is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Castle Rock without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Castle Rock, from the people who make the trip.
More of Castle Rock
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.