Photo: Steven Pavlov · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Centralia earn less than those in 80% of U.S. towns
7% of workers work from home, against 20% across Washington. 19.6% of residents live below the poverty line, against 9.9% across Washington. The two grades for Centralia are C− 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
The work figures that set Centralia apart
Centralia trades workers with the towns around it
Centralia has about as many jobs (7,432) as working residents (8,503), but they are mostly different people: 7,153 residents leave for work each day while 6,082 people come in. Only 18% of the jobs in Centralia are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Centralia draws workers from far and wide
The 7,432 jobs in Centralia are filled from a wide area. Centralia’s own residents hold 18% and the ten next-biggest home towns 20%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The four measures behind Centralia’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Centralia is better than 18% of U.S. towns, #261 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Centralia’s grade up (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Centralia could be anywhere from D to C+.
How a workday changes Centralia
On a workday 7,153 residents head out to work, 1,350 work right here, and 6,082 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 (0.87 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.
10% of working residents work in Chehalis
Where Centralia clocks in
10% of workers
7% 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.
What the 7,432 jobs in Centralia are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Centralia, 2013 → 2023: 6,258 → 7,432. 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 Centralia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes each way for Centralia’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Centralia workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,320 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.
The commute from Centralia, by distance
About 29% 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: Centralia
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Centralia is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #150 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Centralia near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,886 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 12% 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). 7.3% of Centralia households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Centralia’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Centralia compares with U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Mercer Island WA | 25,422 | $219K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Bothell West WA | 22,029 | $153K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Bothell East WA | 14,578 | $199K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,602 | Hannibal MO | 16,804 | $54K | 19.5% | 5.2% | 45% | C− |
| 1,603 | Mountain Home ID | 16,779 | $63K | 11.4% | 6.1% | 29% | C− |
| 1,604 | Centralia WA | 19,375 | $56K | 19.6% | 5.7% | 16% | C− |
| 1,605 | Troy AL | 18,022 | $51K | 25.0% | 2.7% | 41% | C− |
| 1,606 | Alice TX | 17,550 | $49K | 31.4% | 4.1% | 37% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Centralia, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
The towns next door employ 12% of Centralia
The biggest share goes to Chehalis (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Centralia workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralia | – | C− | A− | 26 min | $56,219 |
| Fords Prairie | 2% | C− | C− | 19 min | $55,608 |
| Chehalis | 10% | C+ | B+ | 23 min | $73,702 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Centralia’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 Centralia: questions
What is the median household income in Centralia?
$56,219 (±$12,919) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Centralia?
19.6%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Centralia?
26 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Centralia work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chehalis (10%, 4 mi), Olympia (7%, 22 mi), Seattle (5%, 68 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Centralia walkable?
Centralia is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Centralia without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Centralia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Centralia
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.