Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0More people are out of work in Prosser (8.0%) than in 88% of U.S. towns
9% of workers have no commute at all, against 20% across Washington. Prosser grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in five stay in Prosser for work; outside it, Richland is the main destination (8%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Prosser apart
Commutes from Prosser are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
Prosser’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Prosser is Richland, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (214) 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Prosser
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Prosser is better than 22% of U.S. towns, #252 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Prosser’s grade up ($76,985, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Prosser could be anywhere from D to B.
About 21 minutes to work from Prosser
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prosser workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,581 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Where in the region Prosser works
About 21% 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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In and out of Prosser on a workday
On a workday 2,020 residents head out to work, 555 work right here, and 2,890 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,500 people are in Prosser on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.34 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.
The towns that employ Prosser’s residents
Where Prosser clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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 3,445 jobs based in Prosser
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prosser, 2013 → 2023: 2,917 → 3,445. 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 Prosser’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Prosser, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Prosser is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #179 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 2,834 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 52% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 11% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% 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). 7.0% of Prosser households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Prosser’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Prosser ranks: 2,623rd of 3,201 U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,000
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 231 | Orting WA | 8,884 | $133K | 2.4% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,621 | Paris IL | 8,026 | $54K | 12.5% | 5.0% | 44% | C− |
| 2,622 | Mount Pleasant TN | 5,103 | $50K | 22.8% | 3.8% | 10% | C− |
| 2,623 | Prosser WA | 6,654 | $77K | 16.8% | 8.0% | 22% | C− |
| 2,624 | Marion Township IN | 6,660 | $62K | 14.3% | 5.4% | 31% | C− |
| 2,625 | Buffalo WY | 4,733 | $63K | 9.9% | 5.3% | 43% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,201 | 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 Prosser, 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 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 Prosser: questions
What is the median household income in Prosser?
$76,985 (±$15,431) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prosser?
16.8%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prosser?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prosser work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richland (8%, 23 mi), Sunnyside (8%, 14 mi), Kennewick (6%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Prosser walkable?
Prosser is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Prosser without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 11% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Prosser, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prosser
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.