Most of Fircrest commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Fircrest report 1,154 jobs; 2,852 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Fircrest are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability. Household incomes here are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Fircrest in brief
A lot of Fircrest works one town over
36% of working residents work in a town that borders Fircrest: Tacoma (32%) and University Place (4%). Next door ↓
Nearly all the work in Fircrest is services
89% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 5% are in factories, building or farms. 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.
Fircrest’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fircrest is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #93 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Fircrest’s grade up; unemployment pulls it down (6.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fircrest could be anywhere from B to A+.
Services make up most of the work in Fircrest
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fircrest, 2013 → 2023: 1,051 → 1,154. 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 Fircrest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Fircrest
On a workday 2,772 residents head out to work, 80 work right here, and 1,074 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,300 people are in Fircrest on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer 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.
32% of working residents work in Tacoma
Where Fircrest clocks in
9% 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.
About 23 minutes to work from Fircrest
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fircrest workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,063 commuters (the 20% 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 many miles Fircrest commutes
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.
Fircrest is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.4% 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 3,852 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 69% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 10.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 8.5% of Fircrest households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Fircrest’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,400, Fircrest ranks 956th of 3,167 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 208 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 238 | Orting WA | 8,884 | $133K | 2.4% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 954 | El Cerrito CA | 5,325 | $109K | 6.9% | 5.9% | 2% | A− |
| 955 | Spotswood NJ | 8,236 | $105K | 4.2% | 8.9% | 6% | A− |
| 956 | Fircrest WA | 6,959 | $114K | 5.7% | 6.8% | 3% | A− |
| 957 | North Berwick ME | 5,355 | $102K | 4.4% | 3.7% | 14% | A− |
| 958 | Gulf Park Estates MS | 6,264 | $66K | 5.0% | 1.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,167 | 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 Fircrest, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Next door is work for 36% of Fircrest
The biggest share goes to Tacoma (32%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fircrest workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fircrest | – | A− | A | 23 min | $113,926 |
| University Place | 4% | B+ | A | 28 min | $99,031 |
| Tacoma | 32% | B | A+ | 29 min | $85,884 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Fircrest’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 Fircrest: questions
What is the median household income in Fircrest?
$113,926 (±$20,401) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fircrest?
5.7%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fircrest?
23 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fircrest work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tacoma (32%, 3 mi), Seattle (9%, 28 mi), Lakewood (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fircrest walkable?
Fircrest is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fircrest without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 69% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fircrest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fircrest
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.