Photo: Steven Pavlov · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Poulsbo have higher incomes than those in 87% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 9.3% of residents; Washington has 9.9%. The two grades for Poulsbo are B for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.7 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 94.7 in Seattle.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Poulsbo, in brief
Income, poverty and work: Poulsbo’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Poulsbo is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #151 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Poulsbo’s grade up ($116,250, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 31% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Poulsbo could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
17% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Poulsbo clocks in
17% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
How many people are in Poulsbo by day
On a workday 3,542 residents head out to work, 623 work right here, and 5,345 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Poulsbo on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 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.
What work there is in Poulsbo: 5,968 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Poulsbo, 2014 → 2024: 5,717 → 5,968. 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 Poulsbo’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Poulsbo: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Poulsbo workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,360 commuters (the 24% 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.
Poulsbo’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Poulsbo
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Poulsbo is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #31 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Poulsbo 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 5,742 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 77% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 86% 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). 5.6% of Poulsbo households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Poulsbo’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,202nd of 2,354: where Poulsbo ranks among U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Maltby WA | 10,910 | $185K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Bothell East WA | 14,578 | $199K | 3.6% | 2.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Snoqualmie WA | 13,640 | $214K | 0.8% | 2.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,200 | St. Augustine Shores FL | 9,462 | $74K | 5.0% | 3.6% | 4% | B |
| 1,201 | Sauk Rapids MN | 13,768 | $72K | 7.0% | 4.4% | 11% | B |
| 1,202 | Poulsbo WA | 12,749 | $116K | 9.3% | 3.7% | 15% | B |
| 1,203 | Lopatcong Township NJ | 9,537 | $91K | 10.0% | 5.0% | 3% | B |
| 1,204 | Middletown RI | 16,502 | $102K | 8.5% | 6.0% | 24% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Poulsbo, 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 Poulsbo: questions
What is the median household income in Poulsbo?
$116,250 (±$17,532) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Poulsbo?
9.3%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Poulsbo?
28 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 24% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Poulsbo work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (17%, 16 mi), Bainbridge Island (9%, 9 mi), Bremerton (7%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Poulsbo walkable?
Poulsbo is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 11.8 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Poulsbo without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Poulsbo, from the people who make the trip.
More of Poulsbo
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.