Judge Columbia Lancaster House · Photo: TDavisPayne · CC BY-SA 3.0La Center has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Household incomes here are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns. 779 jobs are based in La Center, against 1,568 working residents. La Center grades A− for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets La Center apart on work
La Center and Vancouver trade workers both ways
Vancouver is the top workplace for La Center residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in La Center come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
La Center workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Washington. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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 the Jobs & income grade adds up in La Center
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, La Center is better than 77% of U.S. towns, #85 of 285 in Washington. Household income is its strongest input ($101,708, U.S. $80,734); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 58% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, La Center could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
21% of working residents work in Vancouver
Where La Center clocks in
21% 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.
Time on the road from La Center: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Center workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,543 commuters (the 19% 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.
Who leaves La Center for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,513 residents head out to work, 55 work right here, and 724 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in La Center 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 2024, primary jobs.
Most jobs in La Center are in services
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Center, 2014 → 2024: 704 → 779. 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 La Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from La Center
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
For most of La Center, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, La Center is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns, #265 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place La Center 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 1,902 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 20% 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). 6.4% of La Center households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of La Center’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000, La Center ranks 957th of 4,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Larch Way WA | 4,424 | $160K | 1.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Clearview WA | 3,254 | $193K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 157 | Lake Holm WA | 3,555 | $177K | 1.1% | 3.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 955 | Forest Oaks NC | 4,293 | $108K | 20.4% | 0.0% | 2% | A− |
| 956 | Gluckstadt MS | 3,500 | $124K | 5.3% | 5.4% | 3% | A− |
| 957 | La Center WA | 4,433 | $102K | 5.7% | 3.6% | 4% | A− |
| 958 | Pulaski WI | 4,048 | $71K | 6.9% | 1.1% | 11% | A− |
| 959 | Oneida Township MI | 3,966 | $93K | 5.9% | 3.8% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 La Center, 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 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 La Center: questions
What is the median household income in La Center?
$101,708 (±$24,561) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Center?
5.7%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Center?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Center work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Vancouver (21%, 16 mi), Portland (11%, 22 mi), Woodland (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is La Center walkable?
La Center is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Center
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.