Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hamilton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
Brick Building in Hamilton WAPhoto: A. Balet · CC BY 3.0
–Not graded–Not graded
Jobs & commute in Hamilton

Most of Hamilton commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident

Hamilton has 11 jobs, and 131 of its residents work somewhere. Hardly any work in Hamilton; the top destination outside it is Mount Vernon (14%, 16 miles). Home is the office for 2% of workers; Washington has 20%.

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

Hamilton quiets down on a workday

On a workday 131 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 11 people come in from elsewhere.

131live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
11work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night290
Workday170
290live here− 130head out to work+ 11come in to work= 170on a workday

About 170 people are in Hamilton on a workday afternoon, 42% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.08jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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 commute map

Where Hamilton’s working residents head each day

LymanHamiltonConcrete: 2 residents work here (2%)Sedro-Woolley: 15 residents work here (11%)Burlington: 5 residents work here (4%)Arlington: 4 residents work here (3%)Mount Vernon: 18 residents work here (14%)Olympia: 3 residents work here (2%)Marysville: 3 residents work here (2%)Bellevue: 5 residents work here (4%)Bellingham: 7 residents work here (5%)Seattle: 8 residents work here (6%)RockportMount VernonSedro-WoolleySeattleBellinghamBurlingtonBellevueHamilton
1
Mount Vernon16.2 mi away
14%18
2
Sedro-Woolley10.9 mi away
11%15
3
Seattle64.5 mi away
6%8
4
Bellingham26.9 mi away
5%7
5
Burlington15.9 mi away
4%5
6
Bellevue64.4 mi away
4%5
7
Arlington25.3 mi away
3%4
8
Olympia110.6 mi away
2%3
9
Marysville31.4 mi away
2%3
10
Concrete11.1 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
47%61
The top trips

Where Hamilton clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

Hamilton is a services town

Jobs based in HamiltonJobs Hamilton residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms18%31%
Trade, transport & utilities0%15%
Services: health, schools, offices82%54%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less18%14%
$1,251–$3,333 a month27%23%
Over $3,333 a month55%63%

Who does it

29 or younger18%27%
30 to 5455%50%
55 and older27%23%
+450%

Jobs based in Hamilton, 2013 → 2023: 2 → 11. 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 Hamilton’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

The trip to work from Hamilton: about 25 minutes

A year of commuting
193 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Hamilton25 min
Washington27 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
2%

of Hamilton workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How Hamilton gets to work
99%Drive alone
1%Carpool

Share of the 83 commuters (the 2% 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 far

Near or far: the trip to work from Hamilton

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miMount Vernon: 14% · 16.2 miSedro-Woolley: 11% · 10.9 miSeattle: 6% · 64.5 miBellingham: 5% · 26.9 miBurlington: 4% · 15.9 miBellevue: 4% · 64.4 miArlington: 3% · 25.3 miOlympia: 2% · 110.6 miMarysville: 2% · 31.4 miConcrete: 2% · 11.1 miMount Vernon 14%Sedro-Woolley 11%Seattle 6%Bellingham 5%Burlington 4%Hamilton
HamiltonTop destinations (size = commuters)
6%Under 10 mi8 residents
43%10–24 mi56 residents
23%25–50 mi30 residents
28%Over 50 mi37 residents

About 28% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Hamilton: questions

What is the median household income in Hamilton?

$67,500 (±$36,568) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Hamilton?

19.4%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Hamilton?

25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Hamilton work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Vernon (14%, 16 mi), Sedro-Woolley (11%, 11 mi), Seattle (6%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Hamilton without a car?

0% 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 Hamilton, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Hamilton

Hamilton home →

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.