There are 3.6 jobs in Custer for every working resident, and 800 people commute in
Only 3% work in Custer; the top destination outside it is Bellingham (28%, 13 miles). Custer has 807 jobs, against 224 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 8% of workers; Washington has 20%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Custer, in brief
Custer fills up on a workday
Custer has 807 jobs, 3.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,100 people are in town, more than double the 480 who live here. Day and night ↓
Custer and Bellingham trade workers both ways
Bellingham is the top workplace for Custer residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Custer come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most jobs in Custer pay over $40,000 a year
83% of the jobs based in Custer pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
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; with 224 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Custer by day and by night
On a workday 217 residents head out to work and 7 work right here.
About 1,100 people are in Custer on a workday afternoon, 122% more than live here.
3.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 towns that send workers to Custer
Where Custer clocks in
28% of workers
10% 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.
A place that makes things: 45% of Custer’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Custer, 2013 → 2023: 571 → 807. 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 Custer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Custer: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Custer workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 167 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.
How far it is to work from Custer
About 23% 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.
Bordering towns draw 10% of Custer’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Ferndale. Darker towns draw more of Custer’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 Custer: questions
What is the median household income in Custer?
$93,598 (±$19,015) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Custer?
19.9%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Custer?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Custer work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bellingham (28%, 13 mi), Ferndale (10%, 5 mi), Lynden (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Custer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Custer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Custer
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.