Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Chelan has 1.9 jobs per working resident, and 2,889 people come in to work
There are 3,526 jobs in Chelan, against 1,814 working residents. Jobs and income earn Chelan B; getting around on foot earns it A+. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 94.7 in Seattle.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Chelan and work: the main findings
Commutes from Chelan are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 100 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
Chelan is where the jobs are
Chelan has 3,526 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Chelan has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Chelan went from 2,070 in 2013 to 3,526 in 2023, +70%. 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 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Chelan
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Chelan is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #169 of 285 in Washington. Unemployment holds Chelan’s grade up (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Chelan could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Chelan’s commute takes about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Chelan workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,700 commuters (the 10% 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.
In and out of Chelan on a workday
On a workday 1,177 residents head out to work and 637 work right here.
About 6,200 people are in Chelan on a workday afternoon, 38% more 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.
The kinds of work in Chelan
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Chelan, 2013 → 2023: 2,070 → 3,526. 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 Chelan’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Chelan, by distance
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who travels to work in Chelan, and from where
Where Chelan clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workers
3% 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.
Chelan is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Chelan is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #34 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Chelan 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 1,897 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 51% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 19% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 1.4% of Chelan households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Chelan’s commuters take a bus or train.
Chelan is 1,891st of 4,088 U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Larch Way WA | 4,424 | $160K | 1.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 161 | Lake Holm WA | 3,555 | $177K | 1.1% | 3.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,889 | Irwin PA | 3,759 | $60K | 13.5% | 2.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,890 | Palmerton PA | 5,615 | $68K | 15.9% | 1.8% | 10% | B |
| 1,891 | Chelan WA | 4,494 | $83K | 8.4% | 1.6% | 35% | B |
| 1,892 | West Monroe NY | 4,090 | $91K | 5.9% | 5.5% | 4% | B |
| 1,893 | Twin Township OH | 3,378 | $58K | 5.6% | 0.5% | 1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,088 | 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 Chelan, 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 Chelan: questions
What is the median household income in Chelan?
$82,637 (±$25,071) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Chelan?
8.4%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Chelan?
14 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Chelan work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wenatchee (7%, 32 mi), Seattle (5%, 110 mi), Manson (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Chelan walkable?
Chelan is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 16% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Chelan without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 19% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Chelan, from the people who make the trip.
More of Chelan
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.