Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0At 3.5%, unemployment in Elma is lower than in 61% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 8% of workers, next to 20% for Washington as a whole. The two grades for Elma are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 1.2 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
What stands out about work in Elma
Elma trades workers with the towns around it
Elma has about as many jobs (1,452) as working residents (1,524), but they are mostly different people: 1,343 residents leave for work each day while 1,271 people come in. Only 12% of the jobs in Elma are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Elma’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Elma is Olympia, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (120) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Elma has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Elma went from 1,055 in 2013 to 1,452 in 2023, +38%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Elma
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Elma is better than 30% of U.S. towns, #239 of 285 in Washington. Unemployment holds Elma’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (24.9%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Elma could be anywhere from D to B.
Who leaves Elma for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,343 residents head out to work, 181 work right here, and 1,271 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 (0.95 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.
Elma’s commute, mile by mile
About 33% 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.
The kinds of work in Elma
1,452 jobs are based in Elma.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elma, 2013 → 2023: 1,055 → 1,452. 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 Elma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Elma’s residents
Where Elma clocks in
8% 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.
From Elma, about 31 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Elma workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,402 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Elma
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Elma is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #29 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Elma 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 1,518 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 39% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 4.0% of Elma households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Elma’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,083rd of 4,355: where Elma ranks among U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Larch Way WA | 4,424 | $160K | 1.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,081 | Girard PA | 2,906 | $71K | 8.8% | 7.6% | 6% | C |
| 3,082 | Upper Paxton Township PA | 4,041 | $58K | 18.8% | 3.0% | 13% | C |
| 3,083 | Elma WA | 3,534 | $78K | 24.9% | 3.5% | 12% | C |
| 3,084 | Rockland NY | 3,335 | $53K | 14.5% | 0.8% | 19% | C |
| 3,085 | Florence CO | 3,856 | $50K | 12.2% | 2.2% | 13% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Elma, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
How Elma compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Elma workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elma | – | C | A+ | 31 min | $78,086 |
| Satsop | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Satsop: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Elma’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 Elma: questions
What is the median household income in Elma?
$78,086 (±$20,609) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Elma?
24.9%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Elma?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Elma work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Olympia (8%, 24 mi), Seattle (7%, 65 mi), Aberdeen (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Elma walkable?
Elma is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Elma without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 39% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elma
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.