Photo: Joe Mabel · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Lynden have higher incomes than those in 79% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Lynden are B for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 7.3% of residents are in poverty, next to 9.9% for Washington as a whole. About one in four stay in Lynden for work; outside it, Bellingham is the main destination (23%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Lynden
Lynden trades workers with the towns around it
Lynden has about as many jobs (6,138) as working residents (6,543), but they are mostly different people: 4,957 residents leave for work each day while 4,552 people come in. Only 26% of the jobs in Lynden are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Lynden and Bellingham trade workers both ways
Bellingham is the top workplace for Lynden residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Lynden come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Lynden are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
Lynden has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lynden went from 4,517 in 2013 to 6,138 in 2023, +36%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Lynden’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lynden is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #143 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Lynden’s grade up ($103,233, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 32% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lynden could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Who leaves Lynden for work, and who comes in
On a workday 4,957 residents head out to work, 1,586 work right here, and 4,552 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 (0.94 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.
Where Lynden goes to work
Where Lynden clocks in
23% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
A commute of about 21 minutes in Lynden
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lynden workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,924 commuters (the 13% 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.
Making and building: 29% of jobs based in Lynden
6,138 jobs are based in Lynden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lynden, 2013 → 2023: 4,517 → 6,138. 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 Lynden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Lynden commutes less than 12 miles
About 23% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Lynden
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lynden is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #151 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.1% 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 7,981 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.7% of Lynden households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Lynden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lynden next to U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000: 1,013th of 1,999 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Bothell West WA | 22,029 | $153K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Bothell East WA | 14,578 | $199K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Snoqualmie WA | 13,640 | $214K | 0.8% | 2.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | Kenmore NY | 14,808 | $78K | 9.1% | 4.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,012 | Center Township IN | 20,019 | $65K | 8.0% | 3.4% | 29% | B |
| 1,013 | Lynden WA | 16,881 | $103K | 7.3% | 3.6% | 24% | B |
| 1,014 | Rio Linda CA | 16,335 | $96K | 14.4% | 4.4% | 6% | B |
| 1,015 | Star ID | 20,874 | $98K | 5.8% | 6.9% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Lynden, 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 Lynden: questions
What is the median household income in Lynden?
$103,233 (±$8,191) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lynden?
7.3%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lynden?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lynden work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bellingham (23%, 14 mi), Seattle (5%, 92 mi), Ferndale (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lynden walkable?
Lynden is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lynden without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lynden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lynden
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.