Whitman Mission National Historic Site · Photo: National Park Service · Public domainWalla Walla draws about half of Garrett’s working residents
9% of workers have no commute at all; Washington has 20%. For jobs and income Garrett is better than 73% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (B−). Measured by household income, Garrett is ahead of 87% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Garrett
Most Garrett residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Commutes from Garrett are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 123 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
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 646 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Garrett’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Household income holds Garrett’s grade up ($118,609, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (5.9%) is left out: Garrett’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Garrett could be anywhere from B− to A.
The commute from Garrett, by distance
About 20% 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.
About 11 minutes each way, quicker than most of Washington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garrett workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 791 commuters (the 9% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Garrett
On a workday 639 residents head out to work, 7 work right here, and 161 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Garrett on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.
0.26 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Where Garrett goes to work
Where Garrett clocks in
46% of workers
2% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 63% of the jobs in Garrett
168 jobs are based in Garrett.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garrett, 2013 → 2023: 165 → 168. 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 Garrett’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting around Garrett: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 865 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 14% 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 40% 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). 4.6% of Garrett households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Garrett’s commuters take a bus or train.
Garrett next to U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300: 990th of 5,760 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Woodway WA | 1,316 | $205K | 2.1% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Fife Heights WA | 1,446 | $157K | 2.4% | 4.5% | 1% | A+ |
| 33 | Ames Lake WA | 1,245 | $250K | 1.1% | 3.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 988 | Paxtang PA | 1,632 | $87K | 4.1% | 6.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 989 | Sangerfield NY | 2,249 | $92K | 4.2% | 3.5% | 14% | B+ |
| 990 | Garrett WA | 1,697 | $119K | 6.4% | 5.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 991 | Germantown IL | 1,379 | $92K | 5.4% | 1.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 992 | Kent City MI | 1,395 | $77K | 6.0% | 2.7% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Garrett, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
57% of Garrett works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Walla Walla (46%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garrett workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrett | – | B+ | B− | 11 min | $118,609 |
| College Place | 11% | C | A+ | 13 min | $61,914 |
| Walla Walla | 46% | C− | A | 13 min | $66,748 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Garrett’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 Garrett: questions
What is the median household income in Garrett?
$118,609 (±$30,384) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garrett?
6.4%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garrett?
11 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garrett work?
1% work in town.
Is Garrett walkable?
Garrett is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garrett without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garrett, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garrett
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.