Photo: Jennifer Gottwald · CC BY 2.0At 3.2%, unemployment in Wenatchee is lower than in 66% of U.S. towns
7% of workers work from home, against 20% across Washington. The two grades for Wenatchee are B− for jobs and income and A for walkability. About two in five stay in Wenatchee for work; outside it, East Wenatchee is the main destination (7%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wenatchee and work: the main findings
Commutes from Wenatchee are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 27 across Washington. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Washington worker. Time on the road ↓
Wenatchee gains people on a workday
About 43,000 people are in Wenatchee on a workday afternoon, 21% more than the 36,000 who live here: 17,000 come in to work and 9,600 head out. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Wenatchee’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wenatchee is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #181 of 285 in Washington. Unemployment holds Wenatchee’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($73,040, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wenatchee could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
The daily trip from Wenatchee: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wenatchee workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 15,290 commuters (the 7% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Wenatchee
On a workday 9,622 residents head out to work, 7,498 work right here, and 17,115 people come in from elsewhere.
About 43,000 people are in Wenatchee on a workday afternoon, 21% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.44 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Miles to work from Wenatchee
About 32% 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.
Out of Wenatchee to work: where people go
Where Wenatchee clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workers
2% 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 24,613 jobs based in Wenatchee
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wenatchee, 2013 → 2023: 20,093 → 24,613. 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 Wenatchee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Wenatchee is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 16,410 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 45% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 12.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% 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). 8.0% of Wenatchee households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Wenatchee’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wenatchee ranks: 814th of 1,219 U.S. towns of 25,000 to 48,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Mercer Island WA | 25,422 | $219K | 3.8% | 3.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Issaquah WA | 39,423 | $155K | 5.2% | 3.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 192 | Edmonds WA | 42,748 | $122K | 3.8% | 4.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 812 | Wayne Township IN | 29,702 | $72K | 12.7% | 2.8% | 40% | B− |
| 813 | Wildomar CA | 37,889 | $104K | 10.6% | 7.7% | 5% | B− |
| 814 | Wenatchee WA | 35,547 | $73K | 10.4% | 3.2% | 44% | B− |
| 815 | Franklin Township OH | 33,063 | $75K | 13.7% | 4.6% | 11% | B− |
| 816 | Morgantown WV | 30,293 | $45K | 30.4% | 6.2% | 40% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,219 | 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 Wenatchee, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Around Wenatchee: the bordering towns
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wenatchee workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wenatchee | – | B− | A | 17 min | $73,040 |
| South Wenatchee | under 1% | C+ | A | 27 min | $63,929 |
| Sunnyslope | under 1% | A | D | 18 min | $135,769 |
| East Wenatchee | 7% | B− | A | 20 min | $77,558 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to East Wenatchee. Darker towns draw more of Wenatchee’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 Wenatchee: questions
What is the median household income in Wenatchee?
$73,040 (±$5,455) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wenatchee?
10.4%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wenatchee?
17 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wenatchee work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are East Wenatchee (7%, 2 mi), Seattle (5%, 95 mi), Cashmere (2%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Wenatchee walkable?
Wenatchee is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wenatchee without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 45% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wenatchee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wenatchee
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.