Photo: Dsdugan · Public domainSteptoe has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any work in Steptoe; the top destination outside it is Pullman (29%, 21 miles). Steptoe has 13 jobs, against 48 working residents. 0% of workers have no commute at all, where Washington as a whole has 20%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How a workday changes Steptoe
On a workday 48 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 13 people come in from elsewhere.
About 130 people are in Steptoe on a workday afternoon, 22% 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.
Out of Steptoe to work: where people go
Where Steptoe clocks in
Lines 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Steptoe, 2013 → 2023: 19 → 13. 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 Steptoe’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Steptoe: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Steptoe workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 58 commuters (the 0% 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 far Steptoe goes to work
About 17% 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.
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.
- Two counts of out-of-state work. The Census survey asks workers where they work: 0% of Steptoe workers work outside Washington. The job records count 15% at employers in other states. The records use the address the employer reports and skip the self-employed, so the two can differ.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Steptoe: questions
What is the median household income in Steptoe?
$51,136 (±$28,192) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Steptoe?
2.5%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Steptoe?
29 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Steptoe work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pullman (29%, 21 mi), Moscow (8%, 25 mi), Garfield (6%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Steptoe without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Steptoe, from the people who make the trip.
More of Steptoe
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.