Photo: Drone108 · CC BY-SA 4.0Gold Bar has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
99 jobs are based in Gold Bar, and 1,076 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Gold Bar are C for jobs and income and B for walkability. 9% of workers have no commute at all, against 20% across Washington.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Gold Bar in brief
Gold Bar workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 47 minutes each way, against 27 across Washington. Over a year that’s about 360 hours of commuting, 153 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Gold Bar is a place people come home to
There are 99 jobs based in Gold Bar, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Gold Bar has about 1,600 people in it, 38% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Gold Bar’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Gold Bar is Seattle, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (142) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Gold Bar earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gold Bar is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #241 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Gold Bar’s grade up ($100,729, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gold Bar could be anywhere from D to B+.
The daily trip from Gold Bar: about 47 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gold Bar workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 969 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.
How a workday changes Gold Bar
On a workday 1,056 residents head out to work, 20 work right here, and 79 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Gold Bar on a workday afternoon, 38% 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 2024, primary jobs.
How far Gold Bar’s workers travel
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
13% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Gold Bar clocks in
13% of workers
10% of workers
9% 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.
The kinds of work in Gold Bar
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gold Bar, 2014 → 2024: 118 → 99. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gold Bar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most of Gold Bar commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gold Bar is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #197 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.4% 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 1,062 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 98% 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 9.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 3.3% of Gold Bar households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Gold Bar’s commuters take a bus or train.
Gold Bar next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,500: 3,516th of 5,083 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 92 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 104 | Cathcart WA | 2,064 | $130K | 3.2% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,514 | Blanding UT | 3,199 | $72K | 16.8% | 3.4% | 51% | C |
| 3,515 | Union Township OH | 2,117 | $56K | 14.9% | 12.2% | 1% | C |
| 3,516 | Gold Bar WA | 2,561 | $101K | 12.0% | 6.9% | 2% | C |
| 3,517 | Guilford NY | 2,674 | $74K | 5.0% | 11.7% | 2% | C |
| 3,518 | Keating Township PA | 2,631 | $74K | 15.5% | 4.0% | 7% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,083 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Gold Bar, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Around Gold Bar: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gold Bar workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Bar | – | C | B | 47 min | $100,729 |
| May Creek | under 3% | — | — | 67 min | — |
| Startup | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. May Creek and Startup: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Gold Bar’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 2024, 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 Gold Bar: questions
What is the median household income in Gold Bar?
$100,729 (±$14,523) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gold Bar?
12.0%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gold Bar?
47 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gold Bar work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (13%, 35 mi), Monroe (10%, 14 mi), Sultan (9%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Gold Bar walkable?
Gold Bar is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gold Bar 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 Gold Bar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gold Bar
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.