Jonas and Maria Lovisa Erickson Farmstead · Photo: Dog Walking Girl · CC BY-SA 3.0Rochester has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
The two grades for Rochester are B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. 811 jobs are based in Rochester for 2,379 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers (Washington 20%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Rochester apart
The better-paid jobs are outside Rochester
70% of Rochester residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 45% of the jobs based in Rochester pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Rochester 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Inside Rochester’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rochester is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #194 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Rochester’s grade up ($99,286, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Rochester could be anywhere from C− to A−.
What Rochester’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rochester, 2014 → 2024: 736 → 811. 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 Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Rochester: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rochester workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,332 commuters (the 7% 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.
Rochester quiets down on a workday
On a workday 2,306 residents head out to work, 73 work right here, and 738 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Rochester on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in Olympia
Where Rochester clocks in
15% 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.
Where in the region Rochester works
About 24% 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.
In Rochester, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rochester is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns, #260 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Rochester 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 2,518 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 18% 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). 1.9% of Rochester households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Rochester’s commuters take a bus or train.
Rochester is 1,875th of 3,432 U.S. towns of 4,100 to 7,900 on jobs and income
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Larch Way WA | 4,424 | $160K | 1.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 207 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,873 | St. Augustine Beach FL | 6,810 | $101K | 8.1% | 6.7% | 12% | B− |
| 1,874 | North Fort Lewis WA | 6,337 | $70K | 12.5% | 16.1% | 1% | B− |
| 1,875 | Rochester WA | 5,834 | $99K | 16.3% | 3.1% | 3% | B− |
| 1,876 | Unalaska AK | 4,306 | $132K | 9.6% | 4.3% | — | B− |
| 1,877 | Ormond-by-the-Sea FL | 7,146 | $79K | 10.0% | 4.6% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 3% | 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 Rochester, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
How Rochester compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Grand Mound (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rochester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | – | B− | C− | 32 min | $99,286 |
| Grand Mound | 4% | B− | B− | 27 min | $72,426 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rochester’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 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 Rochester: questions
What is the median household income in Rochester?
$99,286 (±$23,527) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rochester?
16.3%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rochester?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rochester work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Olympia (15%, 17 mi), Tumwater (10%, 14 mi), Seattle (6%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Rochester walkable?
Rochester is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rochester without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rochester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rochester
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.