With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Sudden Valley works elsewhere
Employers in Sudden Valley report 569 jobs, against 2,590 working residents. Jobs and income earn Sudden Valley B−; getting around on foot earns it C−. Household incomes here are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Sudden Valley: the gist
43% of Sudden Valley works in Bellingham
1,124 working residents, 43%, have their main job in Bellingham, 6.1 miles away. That’s 14 times as many as work in Sudden Valley itself. The commute map ↓
Sudden Valley is a place people come home to
There are 569 jobs based in Sudden Valley, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sudden Valley has about 4,100 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
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.
Inside Sudden Valley’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sudden Valley is better than 54% of U.S. towns, #177 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Sudden Valley’s grade up ($100,930, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Sudden Valley could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
43% of working residents work in Bellingham
Where Sudden Valley clocks in
43% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Sudden Valley by day and by night
On a workday 2,501 residents head out to work, 89 work right here, and 480 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Sudden Valley on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sudden Valley, 2013 → 2023: 196 → 569. 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 Sudden Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 31 minutes in Sudden Valley
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sudden Valley workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,498 commuters (the 18% 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 it is to work from Sudden Valley
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Sudden Valley, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sudden Valley is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns, #259 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Sudden Valley 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 3,059 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.4% of Sudden Valley households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Sudden Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,200, Sudden Valley ranks 1,716th of 3,307 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 204 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,714 | Kewaskum WI | 4,561 | $94K | 10.8% | 6.0% | 9% | B− |
| 1,715 | Liberty Township IN | 4,476 | $74K | 10.5% | 3.3% | 6% | B− |
| 1,716 | Sudden Valley WA | 6,084 | $101K | 7.6% | 4.9% | 3% | B− |
| 1,717 | Baldwinsville NY | 7,582 | $77K | 10.6% | 5.0% | 9% | B− |
| 1,718 | Allenstown NH | 4,882 | $73K | 11.9% | 2.7% | 4% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,307 | 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 Sudden Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Work in the towns next to Sudden Valley
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sudden Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudden Valley | – | B− | C− | 31 min | $100,930 |
| Geneva | under 2% | B+ | C | 23 min | $142,188 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sudden Valley’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 Sudden Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Sudden Valley?
$100,930 (±$7,372) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sudden Valley?
7.6%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sudden Valley?
31 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 18% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sudden Valley work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bellingham (43%, 6 mi), Seattle (5%, 76 mi), Ferndale (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Sudden Valley walkable?
Sudden Valley is more walkable than 23% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sudden Valley without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sudden Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sudden Valley
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.