Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Mill Creek are higher than in 90% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 30% of workers; Washington has 20%. Poverty touches 6.4% of residents, next to 9.9% for Washington as a whole. The two grades for Mill Creek are A− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Mill Creek
Home offices are common in Mill Creek
30% of Mill Creek workers work from home, against 20% across Washington. Time on the road ↓
Three in four Mill Creek workers earn over $40,000 a year
79% of Mill Creek’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Mill Creek workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 27 across Washington. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Mill Creek draws workers from far and wide
The 6,271 jobs in Mill Creek are filled from a wide area. Mill Creek’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 35%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Mill Creek
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Mill Creek is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #62 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Mill Creek’s grade up ($124,364, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.5%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Mill Creek could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Washington
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Mill Creek workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,842 commuters (the 30% 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.
What work there is in Mill Creek: 6,271 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Mill Creek, 2013 → 2023: 4,745 → 6,271. 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 Mill Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.
25% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Mill Creek clocks in
25% of workers
14% 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.
Mill Creek on a workday afternoon
On a workday 9,127 residents head out to work, 293 work right here, and 5,978 people come in from elsewhere.
About 18,000 people are in Mill Creek on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.67 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
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 far Mill Creek’s workers travel
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.
Mill Creek is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,189 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 88% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 7% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 15.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 97% 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). 4.6% of Mill Creek households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 6% of Mill Creek’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Mill Creek is 513th among 1,705 U.S. towns of 15,000 to 28,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Mercer Island WA | 25,422 | $219K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Bothell West WA | 22,029 | $153K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Cottage Lake WA | 22,518 | $213K | 3.2% | 4.1% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 511 | Washington Township IL | 24,235 | $90K | 6.4% | 2.3% | 13% | A− |
| 512 | Tanque Verde AZ | 15,866 | $122K | 2.3% | 4.4% | 6% | A− |
| 513 | Mill Creek WA | 20,902 | $124K | 6.4% | 4.5% | 3% | A− |
| 514 | Madison CT | 17,734 | $167K | 3.6% | 5.3% | 14% | A− |
| 515 | Arroyo Grande CA | 18,123 | $103K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 13% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,705 | 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 Mill Creek, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
The towns around Mill Creek
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Mill Creek workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mill Creek | – | A− | A | 33 min | $124,364 |
| Martha Lake | under 2% | A− | A− | 28 min | $124,494 |
| Mill Creek East | under 2% | A | A | 33 min | $192,937 |
| Silver Firs | under 2% | A | A− | 32 min | $163,418 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Mill Creek’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 Mill Creek: questions
What is the median household income in Mill Creek?
$124,364 (±$11,276) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Mill Creek?
6.4%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Mill Creek?
33 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Mill Creek work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (25%, 18 mi), Everett (14%, 7 mi), Bellevue (8%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Mill Creek walkable?
Mill Creek is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Mill Creek without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 7% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Mill Creek, from the people who make the trip.
More of Mill Creek
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.