Photo: Turtleey · CC BY-SA 4.0Ruston has higher household incomes than 87% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 7.1% of residents, next to 9.9% for Washington as a whole. Ruston grades A for jobs and income and A for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 4.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 94.7 in Seattle.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Ruston, in a few figures
Ruston and Tacoma trade workers both ways
Tacoma is the top workplace for Ruston residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Ruston come from (39% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Ruston
78% of Ruston residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 55% of the jobs based in Ruston pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 99% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Ruston workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 34 minutes each way, against 27 across Washington. Over a year that’s about 261 hours of commuting, 54 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; with 471 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Ruston
On income, poverty and job access, Ruston is better than 88% of U.S. towns. Household income is its strongest input ($116,331, U.S. $80,734); the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns. It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
Unemployment (1.7%) is left out: Ruston’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Ruston could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
34% of working residents work in Tacoma
Where Ruston clocks in
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.
In Ruston, services account for most jobs
627 jobs are based in Ruston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ruston, 2013 → 2023: 474 → 627. 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 Ruston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Ruston spends getting to work: about 34 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ruston workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 500 commuters (the 22% 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 Ruston for work, and who comes in
On a workday 467 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 623 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Ruston on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.33 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 commute from Ruston, 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.
Ruston is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ruston is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.1% 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 638 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 100% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 1.7% of Ruston households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ruston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400, Ruston comes 142nd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Yarrow Point WA | 1,143 | $250K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 0% | A+ |
| 16 | Woodway WA | 1,316 | $205K | 2.1% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Ames Lake WA | 1,245 | $250K | 1.1% | 3.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 140 | Luckey OH | 1,017 | $91K | 2.8% | 0.5% | <1% | A |
| 141 | Mendon UT | 1,326 | $148K | 1.5% | 0.8% | 1% | A |
| 142 | Ruston WA | 1,052 | $116K | 7.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A |
| 143 | Millerton CA | 1,159 | $207K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| 144 | Eaton Estates OH | 1,184 | $79K | 2.0% | 0.0% | 0% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Ruston, 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 Ruston: questions
What is the median household income in Ruston?
$116,331 (±$15,943) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ruston?
7.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ruston?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ruston work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tacoma (34%, 4 mi), Seattle (10%, 23 mi), Lakewood (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ruston walkable?
Ruston is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 16.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ruston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 100% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ruston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ruston
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.