With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Metaline works elsewhere
Only 2% stay in Metaline for work; outside it, Spokane Valley is the main destination (12%, 82 miles). 18 jobs are based in Metaline, and 42 of its residents work somewhere. 8% of workers work from home, against 20% across Washington.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who works in Metaline, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 41 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 17 people come in from elsewhere.
About 140 people are in Metaline 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 2023, primary jobs.
The places Metaline commutes to
Where Metaline clocks in
12% of workers
10% 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.
Metaline works in goods: 28% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Metaline, 2013 → 2023: 19 → 18. 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 Metaline’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes each way for Metaline’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Metaline workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 49 commuters (the 8% 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 far Metaline goes to work
About 63% 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.
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 Metaline: questions
What is the median household income in Metaline?
$69,688 (±$51,589) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Metaline?
15.3%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Metaline?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Metaline work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Spokane Valley (12%, 82 mi), Spokane (10%, 82 mi), Metaline Falls (5%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Metaline without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Metaline, from the people who make the trip.
More of Metaline
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.