by Dr. Kelley Cullen
Thousands of Walla Walla residents find employment outside the county!
Thanks to improvements in transportation and communication networks, more than 8,400 county residents are employed outside the county, bringing important disposable income to the local economy.
Geographically, it makes sense that many county residents would find employment in neighboring Tri-Cities – over 10% of all Walla Walla workers earn a paycheck from employment in the counties of Benton (6%) and Franklin (4.4%). Nearly 5% of all workers in the county earn a paycheck from employment in Spokane County to the north, though it is likely that this is remote work.
Speaking of remote work, with the widespread adoption of telecommuting tools such as videoconferencing (Zoom, Skype) and software like Teams & Slack that help to streamline communication between coworkers, many workers within the county are now able to telecommute for companies located outside the county. In 2022, nearly one-fourth of all county workers worked more than 50 miles from home. Walla Walla Trends 1.3.10 uses data from the US Census OnTheMap to present the total and share of residents employed outside the county. Historical data from over two decades (2002 to 2022) is presented for the county as well as for the Tri-Cities MSA.
The Great Recession (2007-2009) likely sent workers looking for work outside the county causing an uptick in work outside the county from one in five county workers to one in four. Neighboring Tri-Cities also saw a bump during this time, but only up to 22% in 2009. However, over time, the Tri-Cities MSA has steadily increased and is now nearly the same as Walla Walla County.
The US Census OnTheMap provides greater details about home-work patterns and can be disaggregated by type of employment. In 2022, the most recent data available, over 60% of Walla Walla workers reported employment within the county and had commutes of less than 24 miles. Nearly 12% of the workers living in Walla Walla commuted between 25 to 50 miles for their primary employment – many of them crossing into the Tri-Cities for work.
The flow of workers across county borders is not unidirectional. In fact, Walla Walla’s economy supports the employment of over 12,000 workers who do not reside within the county. While some of these are associated with government, such as the Washington State Penitentiary, nearly 10,000 workers hold private primary jobs in Walla Walla County but live outside the county.
While these employment flows across county borders can prove challenging for policymakers who need to plan for housing, transportation and schools within their own borders, much of the disposable income earned by county households will be spent locally. While the Census OnTheMap does not provide details of the types of wages earned by workers, it is possible that county residents working outside the county could be working for larger companies and in industries with higher average annual wages.
Ultimately, economists are finding that workers are choosing employment in part due to quality-of-life amenities. These are attributes that make Walla Walla a great place to live and raise a family. If people can choose where to work either in nearby urban areas such as Tri-Cities or Spokane or even work remotely from the comfort of their homes in Walla Walla, this will continue to provide important disposable income and household spending to the local economy.