Photo: Publichall · CC BY-SA 3.0More people are out of work in Ephrata (6.1%) than in 75% of U.S. towns
About one in four stay in Ephrata for work; outside it, Moses Lake is the main destination (10%, 18 miles). Ephrata grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 20% across Washington.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Ephrata
Ephrata trades workers with the towns around it
Ephrata has about as many jobs (3,783) as working residents (3,591), but they are mostly different people: 2,544 residents leave for work each day while 2,736 people come in. Only 28% of the jobs in Ephrata are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Ephrata are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
40% of the jobs in Ephrata are in trade, transport and utilities, against 24% of the jobs its residents hold. 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.
Why Ephrata gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ephrata is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #267 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Ephrata’s grade up ($69,551, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ephrata could be anywhere from D to C+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Ephrata
On a workday 2,544 residents head out to work, 1,047 work right here, and 2,736 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 (1.05 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.
The daily trip from Ephrata: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ephrata workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,302 commuters (the 6% 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.
67% of the jobs in Ephrata pay over $3,333 a month
3,783 jobs are based in Ephrata.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ephrata, 2013 → 2023: 3,492 → 3,783. 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 Ephrata’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting out of Ephrata: the destinations
Where Ephrata clocks in
10% of workers
7% 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.
Where in the region Ephrata works
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.
Driving is how Ephrata gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ephrata is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #173 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 8.9% across Washington.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,507 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 15% 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). 3.0% of Ephrata households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ephrata’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,590th of 2,878: where Ephrata ranks among U.S. towns of 6,200 to 11,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Maltby WA | 10,910 | $185K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,588 | Batesville MS | 7,325 | $52K | 22.0% | 4.8% | 34% | C− |
| 2,589 | Socorro NM | 8,261 | $39K | 32.6% | 2.1% | 49% | C− |
| 2,590 | Ephrata WA | 8,834 | $70K | 20.8% | 6.1% | 29% | C− |
| 2,591 | Salem IN | 6,427 | $57K | 25.7% | 4.8% | 25% | C− |
| 2,592 | Winfield KS | 11,745 | $57K | 15.4% | 7.3% | 39% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Ephrata, 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 Ephrata: questions
What is the median household income in Ephrata?
$69,551 (±$11,224) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ephrata?
20.8%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ephrata?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ephrata work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Moses Lake (10%, 18 mi), Quincy (7%, 16 mi), Wenatchee (4%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ephrata walkable?
Ephrata is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ephrata without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ephrata, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ephrata
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.