Photo: Rising*From*Ashes · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Yelm have higher incomes than those in 69% of U.S. towns
Yelm grades B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 6.1% of residents (Washington 9.9%). For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.8 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
The commute and the jobs: Yelm in brief
Yelm 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 ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Yelm
65% of Yelm residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 44% of the jobs based in Yelm pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 93% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Yelm’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Yelm is Tacoma, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (344) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. 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.
The figures behind Yelm’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Yelm is better than 66% of U.S. towns, #133 of 285 in Washington. The poverty rate holds Yelm’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 44% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Yelm could be anywhere from B− to A−.
About 34 minutes to work from Yelm
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Yelm workers work from home, vs 20% across Washington. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,984 commuters (the 9% 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 kinds of work in Yelm
2,207 jobs are based in Yelm.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Yelm, 2013 → 2023: 2,437 → 2,207. 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 Yelm’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Yelm
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 and out of Yelm on a workday
On a workday 3,524 residents head out to work, 259 work right here, and 1,948 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Yelm on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.58 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.
9% of working residents work in Tacoma
Where Yelm clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Yelm
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Yelm is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #119 of 285 in Washington. Both inputs place Yelm 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 5,457 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 54% 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 0.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 55% 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). 7.6% of Yelm households have no vehicle (Washington 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Yelm’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Yelm ranks: 1,227th of 2,695 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Maltby WA | 10,910 | $185K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Bothell East WA | 14,578 | $199K | 3.6% | 2.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Snoqualmie WA | 13,640 | $214K | 0.8% | 2.6% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,225 | Lakeland North WA | 15,950 | $105K | 14.4% | 4.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,226 | Mound MN | 9,064 | $87K | 8.8% | 5.2% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,227 | Yelm WA | 12,043 | $91K | 6.1% | 3.8% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,228 | New Paltz NY | 15,636 | $83K | 22.0% | 8.2% | 20% | B+ |
| 1,229 | Conewago Township PA | 8,075 | $89K | 4.6% | 5.4% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Yelm, the top three, the last and three more from Washington.
Yelm and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Yelm workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yelm | – | B+ | A− | 34 min | $90,750 |
| North Yelm | under 2% | A− | C+ | 35 min | $73,725 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Yelm’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 Yelm: questions
What is the median household income in Yelm?
$90,750 (±$5,039) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $98,141 across Washington and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Yelm?
6.1%, against 9.9% across Washington and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Yelm?
34 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Washington and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Yelm work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tacoma (9%, 23 mi), Olympia (9%, 14 mi), Lacey (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Yelm walkable?
Yelm is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Yelm without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Yelm, from the people who make the trip.
More of Yelm
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.