Photo: TheConduqtor · CC BY-SA 3.0La Grande has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.1 for each
0% of workers have no commute at all, next to 20% for Washington as a whole. There are 3 jobs in La Grande, against 45 working residents. Hardly any stay in La Grande for work; outside it, Seattle is the main destination (13%, 56 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through La Grande
On a workday 45 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 3 people come in from elsewhere.
About 250 people are in La Grande on a workday afternoon, 15% 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.
Where La Grande goes to work
Where La Grande clocks in
13% 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.
Services make up most of the work in La Grande
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Grande, 2014 → 2024: 3 → 3. 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 Grande’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long La Grande spends getting to work: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Grande workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 166 commuters (the 0% 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.
The commute from La Grande, by distance
About 29% 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.
The towns around La Grande
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | La Grande workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Grande | – | — | — | 31 min | $250,000+ |
| Alder | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Alder: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of La Grande’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.
- A ceiling on income. The Census stops at $250,000+, so the true median may be higher.
- 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 Grande: questions
What is the median household income in La Grande?
$250,000+ (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Grande?
5.0%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Grande?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Grande work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (13%, 56 mi), Eatonville (9%, 4 mi), Sumner (7%, 29 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around La Grande 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 La Grande, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Grande
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.