Photo: khiara jones · Public domainLongview has higher unemployment (6.0%) than 74% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Longview C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. For 7% of workers, the job is at home, against 20% across Washington. About one in four work in Longview itself; outside it, Kelso draws the most (7%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Longview, in brief
Longview trades workers with the towns around it
Longview has about as many jobs (19,285) as working residents (18,279), but they are mostly different people: 13,340 residents leave for work each day while 14,346 people come in. Only 26% of the jobs in Longview are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Longview’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Longview is better than 23% of U.S. towns, #250 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Longview’s grade up (ahead of 46% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.0%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Longview could be anywhere from C− to C.
Who works in Longview, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 13,340 residents head out to work, 4,939 work right here, and 14,346 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How many miles Longview commutes
About 30% 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.
Commuting out of Longview: the destinations
Where Longview clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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 19,285 jobs based in Longview
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Longview, 2013 → 2023: 16,368 → 19,285. 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 Longview’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Longview spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Longview workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,390 commuters (the 7% 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.
Most of Longview commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 15,471 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 91% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 60% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 82% 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). 12.1% of Longview households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Longview’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 27,000 to 52,000, and where Longview sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Issaquah WA | 39,423 | $155K | 5.2% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | Edmonds WA | 42,748 | $122K | 3.8% | 4.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 254 | Camas WA | 27,749 | $141K | 5.0% | 4.0% | 13% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,003 | Poughkeepsie NY | 32,499 | $61K | 17.6% | 8.8% | 15% | C− |
| 1,004 | Biloxi MS | 48,516 | $57K | 16.4% | 7.7% | 35% | C− |
| 1,005 | Longview WA | 38,362 | $62K | 16.0% | 6.0% | 27% | C− |
| 1,006 | Del Rio TX | 34,496 | $66K | 19.0% | 4.9% | 52% | C− |
| 1,007 | Winchester NV | 37,081 | $50K | 23.8% | 9.0% | 6% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,113 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Longview, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
How Longview compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Longview workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longview | – | C− | B+ | 25 min | $61,747 |
| Longview Heights | under 2% | C | D− | 29 min | $74,570 |
| Kelso | 7% | C | A− | 21 min | $66,751 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kelso. Darker towns draw more of Longview’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 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 Longview: questions
What is the median household income in Longview?
$61,747 (±$3,174) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Longview?
16.0%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Longview?
25 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Longview work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kelso (7%, 4 mi), Vancouver (7%, 39 mi), Portland (5%, 45 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Longview walkable?
Longview is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Longview without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 60% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Longview, from the people who make the trip.
More of Longview
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.