Spanaway has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 6,266 jobs in Spanaway, against 14,529 working residents. The two grades for Spanaway are B+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 10% of workers work from home, against 20% across Washington.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Spanaway, in brief
How Spanaway earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spanaway is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #119 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Spanaway’s grade up ($98,251, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Spanaway could be anywhere from B to A−.
About 37 minutes each way for Spanaway’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spanaway workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 14,423 commuters (the 10% 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.
How a workday changes Spanaway
On a workday 13,901 residents head out to work, 628 work right here, and 5,638 people come in from elsewhere.
About 26,000 people are in Spanaway on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 2023, primary jobs.
16% of working residents work in Tacoma
Where Spanaway clocks in
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.
What Spanaway’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spanaway, 2013 → 2023: 4,786 → 6,266. 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 Spanaway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Spanaway goes to work
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 Spanaway, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spanaway is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #155 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.0% 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 16,109 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 38% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 4.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 5.0% of Spanaway households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Spanaway’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Spanaway ranks: 639th of 1,255 U.S. towns of 24,000 to 46,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Mercer Island WA | 25,422 | $219K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Issaquah WA | 39,423 | $155K | 5.2% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 203 | Edmonds WA | 42,748 | $122K | 3.8% | 4.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 637 | Gates NY | 28,988 | $77K | 11.0% | 3.3% | 10% | B+ |
| 638 | Center Township IN | 41,874 | $79K | 8.8% | 3.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 639 | Spanaway WA | 34,019 | $98K | 8.8% | 4.7% | 4% | B+ |
| 640 | West Bend WI | 32,268 | $74K | 8.2% | 3.2% | 21% | B+ |
| 641 | Canyon Lake TX | 33,883 | $97K | 7.3% | 4.0% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,255 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Spanaway, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
How Spanaway compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spanaway workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanaway | – | B+ | B+ | 37 min | $98,251 |
| Frederickson | under 3% | B+ | B | 36 min | $109,500 |
| Parkland | under 3% | B− | A | 31 min | $72,239 |
| Elk Plain | under 3% | A− | D | 37 min | $107,313 |
| McChord AFB | under 3% | C+ | A− | 14 min | $54,808 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Spanaway’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 Spanaway: questions
What is the median household income in Spanaway?
$98,251 (±$5,866) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spanaway?
8.8%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spanaway?
37 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spanaway work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tacoma (16%, 11 mi), Seattle (9%, 36 mi), Lakewood (7%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Spanaway walkable?
Spanaway is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spanaway without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spanaway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spanaway
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.