Photo: SounderBruce · CC BY-SA 4.0Milton has 0.6 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income B+: better than 67% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #128 of 285 in Washington.
Walkability A: more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns · #50 of 285 in Washington.
Household incomes here are higher than in 74% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 30 minutes each way (Washington 27, U.S. 26). Only 4% work in Milton; the top destination outside it is Seattle (13%, 25 miles).
Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 3.4 transit trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 94.7 in Seattle (EPA, 2020 schedules).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Milton, in brief
Milton has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Milton went from 1,297 in 2013 to 2,257 in 2023, +74%. The jobs ↓
Milton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Milton is Seattle, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (525) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Milton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Milton is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #128 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Milton’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Milton could be anywhere from B− to A.
What the 2,257 jobs in Milton are
2,257 jobs are based in Milton. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Milton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Milton, 2013 → 2023: 1,297 → 2,257. 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.
Half of Milton commutes less than 12 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Milton quiets down on a workday
On a workday 3,773 residents head out to work, 137 work right here, and 2,120 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,300 people are in Milton on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
13% of working residents work in Seattle
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Milton clocks in
13% of workers
7% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
About 30 minutes each way, longer than most of Washington
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Milton workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,107 commuters (the 9% who work from home are left out). Across Washington: 79% drive alone, 4% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Milton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Milton is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #50 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Milton near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,521 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 94% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 53% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% 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). 5.5% of Milton households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Milton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Milton is 1,239th of 2,907 U.S. towns of 6,200 to 12,000 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Milton, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Maltby WA | 10,910 | $185K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 115 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 222 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,237 | Red Chute LA | 6,526 | $86K | 7.5% | 4.1% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,238 | West View PA | 6,355 | $84K | 8.8% | 5.1% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,239 | Milton WA | 8,911 | $97K | 10.2% | 5.3% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,240 | Plumsted Township NJ | 9,991 | $104K | 6.8% | 6.7% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,241 | Xenia Township OH | 7,320 | $95K | 4.8% | 6.8% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,907 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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.
10% of Milton works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Federal Way (6%). Darker towns draw more of Milton’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Milton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milton | – | B+ | A | 30 min | $96,540 |
| Edgewood | under 4% | A+ | B | 28 min | $116,132 |
| Federal Way | 6% | B | A | 32 min | $86,909 |
| Fife Heights | under 4% | A+ | C+ | 25 min | $157,292 |
| Lakeland South | under 4% | B+ | B+ | 30 min | $110,735 |
| Fife | 4% | B | A− | 27 min | $90,532 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Milton: questions
What is the median household income in Milton?
$96,540 (±$6,893) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Milton?
10.2%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Milton?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Milton work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (13%, 25 mi), Tacoma (11%, 7 mi), Kent (7%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Milton walkable?
Milton is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.0 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Milton without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 53% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Milton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Milton
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.