Photo: Steven Pavlov · CC BY-SA 3.0Pacific has higher household incomes than 86% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 13.8% of residents, next to 9.9% across Washington. The two grades for Pacific are B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 11% of workers have no commute at all, next to 20% for Washington as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Pacific, in brief
Pacific trades workers with the towns around it
Pacific has about as many jobs (3,641) as working residents (3,383), but they are mostly different people: 3,324 residents leave for work each day while 3,582 people come in. Only 2% of the jobs in Pacific are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Most jobs in Pacific pay over $40,000 a year
79% of the jobs based in Pacific pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Pacific’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Pacific is Seattle, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (496) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Pacific makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Pacific are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Pacific residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Pacific workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 27 across Washington. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Where Pacific’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pacific is better than 69% of U.S. towns, #117 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car holds Pacific’s grade up (ahead of 87% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pacific could be anywhere from B− to A.
In and out of Pacific on a workday
On a workday 3,324 residents head out to work, 59 work right here, and 3,582 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 (1.08 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.
Goods, not services: 38% of the jobs in Pacific
3,641 jobs are based in Pacific.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pacific, 2013 → 2023: 2,705 → 3,641. 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 Pacific’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Pacific, by distance
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.
About 32 minutes each way for Pacific’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pacific workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,892 commuters (the 11% 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.
15% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Pacific clocks in
15% of workers
13% of workers
10% 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 commute in Pacific is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pacific is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #175 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.4% 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 3,257 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 96% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 62% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 3.8% of Pacific households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Pacific’s commuters take a bus or train.
Pacific places 1,218th of 3,227 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,900 to 9,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 243 | Orting WA | 8,884 | $133K | 2.4% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,216 | Ash Township MI | 8,013 | $73K | 6.9% | 4.0% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,217 | Derby CO | 8,453 | $82K | 8.1% | 5.1% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,218 | Pacific WA | 7,056 | $116K | 13.8% | 4.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,219 | Wawayanda NY | 8,428 | $143K | 5.0% | 6.9% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,220 | Balm FL | 7,181 | $115K | 2.2% | 9.2% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,227 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Pacific, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Pacific and its neighbors: 17% work next door
The biggest share goes to Auburn (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pacific workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific | – | B+ | B+ | 32 min | $115,625 |
| Auburn | 13% | B+ | A | 31 min | $97,884 |
| Algona | under 4% | B− | A | 28 min | $85,332 |
| Lakeland South | under 4% | B+ | B+ | 30 min | $110,735 |
| Edgewood | under 4% | A+ | B | 28 min | $116,132 |
| Sumner | 4% | A− | A | 30 min | $98,191 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pacific’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 Pacific: questions
What is the median household income in Pacific?
$115,625 (±$22,316) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pacific?
13.8%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pacific?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pacific work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (15%, 25 mi), Auburn (13%, 4 mi), Kent (10%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Pacific walkable?
Pacific is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pacific without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 62% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Pacific, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pacific
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.