John R. Jackson House · Photo: Shortiefourten · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Napavine have higher incomes than those in 80% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Napavine is better than 55% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (D). Poverty touches 6.0% of residents, next to 9.9% for Washington as a whole. 4% of workers work from home (Washington 20%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Napavine: the gist
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
Few Napavine workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 20% across Washington. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 809 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Napavine
Household income holds Napavine’s grade up ($104,148, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Napavine could be anywhere from C to A−.
Napavine’s commute, mile by mile
About 33% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
A commute of about 30 minutes in Napavine
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Napavine workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 934 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who leaves Napavine for work, and who comes in
On a workday 780 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 681 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 (0.88 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
11% of working residents work in Chehalis
Where Napavine clocks in
11% of workers
10% of workers
6% 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 kinds of work in Napavine
710 jobs are based in Napavine.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Napavine, 2014 → 2024: 292 → 710. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Napavine’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Most trips from Napavine start in a car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 972 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 0.7% of Napavine households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Napavine’s commuters take a bus or train.
Napavine is 2,006th of 5,404 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Cathcart WA | 2,064 | $130K | 3.2% | 1.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Meadow Glade WA | 2,281 | $129K | 2.4% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Fall City WA | 1,618 | $177K | 2.2% | 3.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,004 | Harveys Lake PA | 2,889 | $76K | 5.1% | 4.5% | 6% | B− |
| 2,005 | Somerset TX | 1,872 | $78K | 17.2% | 6.0% | 5% | B− |
| 2,006 | Napavine WA | 2,153 | $104K | 6.0% | 5.1% | 4% | B− |
| 2,007 | Saratoga WY | 1,766 | $85K | 2.9% | 0.0% | 53% | B− |
| 2,008 | Lauramie Township IN | 2,634 | $75K | 7.5% | 4.0% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,404 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Napavine, 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 2024, 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 Napavine: questions
What is the median household income in Napavine?
$104,148 (±$18,618) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Napavine?
6.0%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Napavine?
30 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Napavine work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chehalis (11%, 6 mi), Centralia (10%, 10 mi), Olympia (6%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Napavine walkable?
Napavine is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Napavine without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Napavine, from the people who make the trip.
More of Napavine
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.