At 2.1%, unemployment in Cle Elum is lower than in 83% of U.S. towns
11% of workers work from home, next to 20% for Washington as a whole. The two grades for Cle Elum are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in five work in Cle Elum itself; outside it, Seattle draws the most (10%, 72 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Cle Elum
Cle Elum’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cle Elum is Seattle, 72 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (112) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
46% 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.
Income, poverty and work: Cle Elum’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cle Elum is better than 42% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Cle Elum’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cle Elum could be anywhere from C− to B.
How far it is to work from Cle Elum
About 46% 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.
How a workday changes Cle Elum
On a workday 898 residents head out to work, 265 work right here, and 1,331 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Cle Elum on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.37 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.
Out of Cle Elum to work: where people go
Where Cle Elum clocks in
10% of workers
5% 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.
Cle Elum works in goods: 29% of its jobs
1,596 jobs are based in Cle Elum.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cle Elum, 2013 → 2023: 1,216 → 1,596. 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 Cle Elum’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Cle Elum takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cle Elum workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 874 commuters (the 11% 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 Cle Elum, walking beats the bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 978 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.3% of Cle Elum households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cle Elum’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,773rd of 5,328: where Cle Elum ranks among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,100
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Cathcart WA | 2,064 | $130K | 3.2% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Meadow Glade WA | 2,281 | $129K | 2.4% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,771 | Young Township PA | 1,670 | $77K | 9.9% | 5.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,772 | Hartford KY | 2,665 | $61K | 12.9% | 2.7% | 20% | C+ |
| 2,773 | Cle Elum WA | 2,288 | $64K | 9.8% | 2.1% | 23% | C+ |
| 2,774 | Blue Lake Township MI | 2,450 | $83K | 15.0% | 4.0% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,775 | Poland NY | 2,176 | $70K | 9.7% | 4.4% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,328 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Cle Elum, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
The towns around Cle Elum
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cle Elum workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cle Elum | – | C+ | A− | 24 min | $63,973 |
| South Cle Elum | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. South Cle Elum: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cle Elum’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 Cle Elum: questions
What is the median household income in Cle Elum?
$63,973 (±$11,000) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cle Elum?
9.8%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cle Elum?
24 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cle Elum work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (10%, 72 mi), Ellensburg (5%, 23 mi), Roslyn (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cle Elum walkable?
Cle Elum is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cle Elum without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cle Elum, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cle Elum
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.