Photo: Dicklyon · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Vashon have higher incomes than those in 88% of U.S. towns
Vashon grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. The poverty rate is 11.1%, next to 9.9% for Washington as a whole. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 5.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 94.7 in Seattle.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Vashon: the figures worth knowing
Home offices are common in Vashon
39% of Vashon workers work from home, against 20% across Washington. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Vashon go to people who live here
Of the 2,582 jobs based in Vashon, 54% are held by Vashon residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Vashon 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 ↓
A lot of Vashon works one town over
27% of working residents work in a town that borders Vashon: Seattle (24%) and Tacoma (3%). Next door ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Vashon: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Vashon is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #236 of 285 in Washington. Household income holds Vashon’s grade up ($120,571, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vashon could be anywhere from C− to B.
From Vashon, about 34 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vashon workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,829 commuters (the 39% 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.
Vashon by day and by night
On a workday 2,418 residents head out to work, 1,402 work right here, and 1,180 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,700 people are in Vashon on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
24% of working residents work in Seattle
Where Vashon clocks in
24% 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.
The kinds of work in Vashon
2,582 jobs are based in Vashon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vashon, 2013 → 2023: 2,065 → 2,582. 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 Vashon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Vashon
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Vashon
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Vashon is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #109 of 285 in Washington. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 8.9% across Washington, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,665 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% 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 5.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 85% 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). 2.9% of Vashon households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 11% of Vashon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Vashon next to U.S. towns of 7,000 to 13,400: 2,069th of 2,722 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Maltby WA | 10,910 | $185K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 190 | Lake Tapps WA | 12,798 | $148K | 4.6% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 234 | Orting WA | 8,884 | $133K | 2.4% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,067 | Eagle Point OR | 9,861 | $84K | 10.0% | 13.9% | 7% | C |
| 2,068 | Madera Acres CA | 9,846 | $78K | 16.2% | 8.0% | 4% | C |
| 2,069 | Vashon WA | 9,934 | $121K | 11.1% | 7.7% | 37% | C |
| 2,070 | Bladensburg MD | 9,671 | $63K | 21.7% | 9.6% | 2% | C |
| 2,071 | Pine Castle FL | 10,371 | $50K | 20.3% | 5.7% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,722 | 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 Vashon, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Vashon and its neighbors: 27% work next door
The biggest share goes to Seattle (24%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Vashon’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 Vashon: questions
What is the median household income in Vashon?
$120,571 (±$11,711) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vashon?
11.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vashon?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 39% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vashon work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Seattle (24%, 15 mi), Bellevue (4%, 19 mi), Tacoma (3%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Vashon walkable?
Vashon is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vashon without a car?
11% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Vashon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vashon
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.