Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Kingston works elsewhere
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 9.6 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 94.7 in Seattle. 496 jobs are based in Kingston; 929 of its residents have a job. Kingston grades B for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Kingston in brief
The better-paid jobs are outside Kingston
74% of Kingston residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 39% of the jobs based in Kingston pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
37% of the jobs based in Kingston are held by workers 29 or younger, against 17% of Kingston’s own working residents. 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; with 929 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Kingston’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kingston is better than 57% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Kingston’s grade up (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kingston could be anywhere from D to A.
The kinds of work in Kingston
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kingston, 2013 → 2023: 526 → 496. 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 Kingston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Kingston on a workday afternoon
On a workday 889 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 456 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,100 people are in Kingston on a workday afternoon, 17% 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.
20% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Kingston clocks in
20% of workers
8% 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 31 minutes to work from Kingston
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kingston workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,039 commuters (the 14% 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 Kingston 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.
Kingston is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kingston is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Kingston near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,211 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 78% 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 9.6 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). 4.5% of Kingston households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 10% of Kingston’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,018th of 5,401: where Kingston ranks among U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,400
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Medina WA | 2,974 | $250K | 4.7% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 107 | Cathcart WA | 2,064 | $130K | 3.2% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,016 | Bergen NY | 3,120 | $75K | 10.3% | 4.2% | 10% | B |
| 2,017 | Reed Creek GA | 3,151 | $77K | 9.4% | 0.9% | 2% | B |
| 2,018 | Kingston WA | 2,496 | $91K | 8.1% | 2.2% | 4% | B |
| 2,019 | Round Lake Heights IL | 2,580 | $79K | 14.5% | 4.1% | 1% | B |
| 2,020 | Madison Township IN | 1,728 | $84K | 9.1% | 8.3% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,401 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Kingston, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
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 Kingston: questions
What is the median household income in Kingston?
$90,625 (±$49,558) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kingston?
8.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kingston?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kingston work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (20%, 14 mi), Poulsbo (8%, 7 mi), Bainbridge Island (5%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kingston walkable?
Kingston is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kingston without a car?
10% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kingston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kingston
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.