01
The employers behind the economy
Poulsbo’s anchors make it a service center for more than its own residents.
Poulsbo contains 6,645 workplace jobs. Retail accounts for 19% of them. Healthcare is next at 17%.
Schools, elder care, groceries, furniture manufacturing, a private school, and city government account for about a third of Poulsbo employment. That mix helps explain why the city behaves as North Kitsap’s everyday service center rather than only a residential or visitor town.
Workplace jobs: 2023
02
The trajectory
Poulsbo grew 13% while its workplace count fell 3%.
Poulsbo’s population rose 13% from 2021–2026; its workplace job count fell 3% from 2018–2023. The source periods differ because the two series are released on different schedules.
Seattle already receives 24% of observed resident job destinations. If the split continues, that outside connection—and the trip it requires—will carry more of the household economy.
Population: 2021–2026 · jobs: 2018–2023
03
A campus city
Olympic College Poulsbo puts a campus population into Poulsbo’s workday.
61% of households are estimated to be families. Olympic College Poulsbo adds a postsecondary population that is not visible in the public-school count.
Olympic College Poulsbo bring students and staff whose housing, transit, and daytime-commerce patterns differ from a conventional Poulsbo office workforce. Enrollment is the missing scale measure.
Households: ACS 2024 · public-school locations: OSPI 2025–26
04
The commute that shapes the city
Poulsbo sends its largest stream of resident workers to Seattle.
24% of observed resident job destinations are in Seattle, followed by Bainbridge Island at 13%. Only 22% are inside Poulsbo.
Current GTFS schedules 1,219 weekday stop departures at 70 stops inside Poulsbo; that supply still needs to be tested against the route to Seattle, the largest outside job destination. Schedule supply is not ridership.
Workplace flows: 2023 · commute modes: ACS 2024
