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Elma, WA

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.





Overview


Elma is a very small city located in the state of Washington. With a population of 3,469 people and just one neighborhood, Elma is the 165th largest community in Washington.

Occupations and Workforce

Unlike some cities, Elma isn’t mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Elma are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Elma is a city of sales and office workers, service providers, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Elma who work in office and administrative support (22.55%), management occupations (14.04%), and farm management occupations (7.59%).

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 11.05% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Setting & Lifestyle

Elma is a small city, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.

Demographics

The education level of Elma citizens is a little higher than the average for US cities and towns: 23.75% of adults in Elma have at least a bachelor's degree.

The per capita income in Elma in 2018 was $29,350, which is lower middle income relative to Washington, and middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $117,400 for a family of four. However, Elma contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.

The people who call Elma home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Elma residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Elma include Irish, German, English, Swedish, and Norwegian.

The most common language spoken in Elma is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Spanish.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Elma, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

Occupations

It used to be that most Americans lived on the farm, or otherwise made their living from the land, the forests, or the sea. With global trade and an economy increasingly based on providing services to one another, fewer people farm, fish or harvest timber now than at any time in American history. But according to NeighborhoodScout's leading analysis, the neighborhood stands apart from most American neighborhood due to the proportion of its residents still working in these fields. With 7.8% of the workforce so employed, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of such workers than 98.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Furthermore, the government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 13.9% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 96.2% of U.S. neighborhoods.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Croatian and Norwegian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 2.6% of this neighborhood's residents have Croatian ancestry and 8.0% have Norwegian ancestry.

The Neighbors

How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.

The neighbors in the neighborhood in Elma are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 60.5% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 10.4% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 50.6% of America's neighborhoods.

A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.

In the neighborhood, 35.0% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 21.6% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (18.8%), and 16.8% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

Languages

The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 92.1% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Spanish and Polish.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.

In the neighborhood in Elma, WA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (18.5%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (15.5%), and residents who report English roots (13.5%), and some of the residents are also of Norwegian ancestry (8.0%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (7.8%), among others.

Getting to Work

How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (32.6% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (79.4%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (5.3%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


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