With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Central Park works elsewhere
Home is the office for 8% of workers (Washington 20%). 154 jobs are based in Central Park for 1,304 working residents. Central Park grades B for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Central Park, in brief
Central Park is a place people come home to
There are 154 jobs based in Central Park, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Central Park has about 2,100 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Central Park and Aberdeen trade workers both ways
Aberdeen is the top workplace for Central Park residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Central Park come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Central Park are quick
The average trip to work takes 22 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Central Park
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Central Park is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #141 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Central Park’s grade up ($99,127, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Central Park could be anywhere from C to A.
The daily commute in and out of Central Park
On a workday 1,290 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 140 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Central Park on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
25% of working residents work in Aberdeen
Where Central Park clocks in
25% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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 daily trip from Central Park: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Central Park workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,464 commuters (the 8% 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.
46% of the jobs in Central Park make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Central Park, 2013 → 2023: 154 → 154. 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 Central Park’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Central Park’s workers travel
About 31% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Central Park
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Central Park is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns, #143 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.8% 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 1,594 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 44% 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). 2.8% of Central Park households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Central Park’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Central Park ranks: 1,536th of 4,698 U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Meadow Glade WA | 2,281 | $129K | 2.4% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,534 | Shawneeland VA | 2,754 | $95K | 10.2% | 2.7% | 1% | B |
| 1,535 | Dunham Township IL | 2,783 | $93K | 0.9% | 13.8% | 5% | B |
| 1,536 | Central Park WA | 3,206 | $99K | 6.4% | 2.8% | 1% | B |
| 1,537 | Woodstown NJ | 3,784 | $99K | 9.2% | 6.2% | 6% | B |
| 1,538 | Monmouth ME | 4,252 | $75K | 9.3% | 0.1% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,698 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Central Park, 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 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 Central Park: questions
What is the median household income in Central Park?
$99,127 (±$14,959) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Central Park?
6.4%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Central Park?
22 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Central Park work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Aberdeen (25%, 5 mi), Montesano (7%, 6 mi), Hoquiam (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Central Park walkable?
Central Park is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Central Park without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 44% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Central Park, from the people who make the trip.
More of Central Park
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.