Glacier Ranger Station · Photo: Chris Light · CC BY-SA 4.0Glacier has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The trip to work takes 35 minutes on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. Glacier has 55 jobs for 116 working residents. Only 5% stay in Glacier for work; outside it, Bellingham is the main destination (23%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Glacier on a workday afternoon
On a workday 110 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 49 people come in from elsewhere.
About 280 people are in Glacier on a workday afternoon, 18% 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.
Out of Glacier to work: where people go
Where Glacier clocks in
23% of workers
5% 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.
What Glacier’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Glacier, 2013 → 2023: 64 → 55. 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 Glacier’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Glacier spends getting to work: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Glacier workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 209 commuters (the 21% 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 Glacier commutes
About 32% 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.
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 Glacier: questions
What is the poverty rate in Glacier?
1.8%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Glacier?
35 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Glacier work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bellingham (23%, 26 mi), Ferndale (5%, 30 mi), Seattle (4%, 90 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Glacier without a car?
11% 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 Glacier, from the people who make the trip.
More of Glacier
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.