Waller has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs and income earn Waller A−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Waller has 1,623 jobs, and 3,437 of its residents work somewhere. Measured by household income, Waller is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Waller, in a few figures
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Waller’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 32 minutes, longer than the Washington average of 27. Time on the road ↓
Waller makes and builds things
48% of the jobs based in Waller are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Waller residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Most jobs in Waller pay over $40,000 a year
78% of the jobs based in Waller pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), the top earnings band in the Census data. The jobs ↓
Waller and Tacoma trade workers both ways
Tacoma is the top workplace for Waller residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Waller come from (12% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Why Waller gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waller is better than 81% of U.S. towns, #67 of 285 in Washington. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 83% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Waller could be anywhere from B to A+.
Waller’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waller workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,077 commuters (the 16% 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.
Waller works in goods: 48% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waller, 2013 → 2023: 1,376 → 1,623. 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 Waller’s own residents hold wherever they work.
19% of working residents work in Tacoma
Where Waller clocks in
10% of workers
8% 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.
Who commutes out of Waller, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,359 residents head out to work, 78 work right here, and 1,545 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,900 people are in Waller 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.
How far Waller 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.
Most of Waller commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waller is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns, #211 of 285 in Washington. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 3,683 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 32% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, <1% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 72% 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). 3.8% of Waller households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Waller’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waller places 748th of 3,051 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 5,400 to 10,400
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Normandy Park WA | 6,609 | $162K | 4.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 208 | Wollochet WA | 6,689 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 244 | Orting WA | 8,884 | $133K | 2.4% | 2.8% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 746 | Kirtland OH | 6,925 | $110K | 4.7% | 5.2% | 5% | A− |
| 747 | Saratoga Township IL | 6,597 | $82K | 5.4% | 2.4% | 8% | A− |
| 748 | Waller WA | 7,683 | $101K | 7.6% | 3.6% | 2% | A− |
| 749 | Adel IA | 7,098 | $95K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 12% | A− |
| 750 | Gray ME | 8,676 | $95K | 3.5% | 3.4% | 9% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,051 | 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 Waller, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Next door is work for 23% of Waller
The biggest share goes to Tacoma (19%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Waller’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 Waller: questions
What is the median household income in Waller?
$101,490 (±$19,106) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waller?
7.6%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waller?
32 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waller work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tacoma (19%, 5 mi), Seattle (10%, 29 mi), Puyallup (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Waller walkable?
Waller is more walkable than 50% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waller without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. <1% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waller, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waller
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.