View in Vital Signs- Healthy Human Population
- Outdoor Activity
- Indicator
- Nature-based work
- Vital Sign Indicator
- Percent (%)
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No targets are currently set for this indicator.
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Kelly Biedenweg
- Contributing Partners
- Last Updated
- 07/31/2025 18:41:29
This indicator tracks stated participation in occupations based in natural environments in the Puget Sound, such as commercial or charter fishing, farming, forestry, habitat restoration, or outdoor-recreation jobs.
Percentage of respondents in 2024 who answered 'Yes' (orange) and 'No' (blue) to the question: Does your work involve spending time in natural environments?
The Puget Sound is a region historically and currently known for natural resource-based industries. Engagement in such activities contributes not only to the economy, but also to a sense of cultural connection, mastery, and sense of place. Additionally, nature-based professions commonly involve more physical activity than other professions. Increasingly, these natural resource jobs are done by BIPOC residents. That said, several natural resource extraction industries are decreasing the number of jobs in the region. (see Economic Vitality Vital Sign and the employment in natural resource industries indicator)
- In 2024, over 10% of respondents said their work involved time outdoors.
- Of those, over 50% worked more than 10 hours per week outdoors.
- While not statistically significant, data regarding time spent working outdoors has slightly decreased since 2018.
- Monitoring Program
- Data Source
Oregon State University Human Dimensions Lab
Data are collected every two years via paper survey and online response option to a random sample of Puget Sound households. The population is a clustered random sample of Puget Sound residents across 12 counties, with an initial sample of 9,000. Due to undeliverable addresses, the total sample reached is always less than 9,000.
- In 2024, the response rate was 23% for a total of 1,968 responses.
- In 2022, the response rate was 20.8%, with a total of 1,271 responses.
- In 2020, the response rate was 25% for a total of 1,843 respondents.
- In 2018, the first iteration of the survey, the response rate was 28% for a total of 2,323 individual responses.
The outdoor work indicator is based on two questions in the survey that ask respondents to first acknowledge if they do work that involves spending time in nature. If yes, they are led to a second question that asks them to identify the number of hours per week based on five categorical options (<5 to 30+).
For more information on the survey, see Appendix A. Detailed Methodology and Appendix B. 2022 Survey Instrument in the 2024 Survey Report.
- Critical Definitions
Outdoor work can have both positive and negative impacts on human health. Under the right environmental and social conditions, access to the outdoors can provide important interactions with clean air, water, sun, physical activity, and natural sounds. Under extreme weather conditions or high intensity work expectations, the same outdoor activities can create physical and mental strain.
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Despite the COVID pandemic during 2020-2021, we did not measure any differences across the general population between 2020 and 2022. We may have hypothesized changes in nature-based work due to the COVID pandemic – either motivating people to get outdoors more or negatively impacting employment levels. At a population scale, however, we did not see overall changes in the participation in outdoor work.
Bordas, A., A. Kuberski, K. Harrington, and K. Biedenweg. 2025. Human Wellbeing Vital Signs Survey 2024 Summary: A report on subjective human wellbeing indicators. prepared for the Puget Sound Partnership
Harrington, K., B. Leach, Z. Antenucci, and K. Biedenweg. 2023. Human Wellbeing Vital Signs Survey 2022 Summary: A report on subjective human wellbeing indicators prepared for the Puget Sound Partnership.
Justiniano, I., C. Avendano, C. Lozano and K. Biedenweg. 2021. Vital Signs Latinx Survey. Report to Puget Sound Partnership.
Fleming, W., H. Kehoe-Thommen, B. Katz, J. Hart and K. Biedenweg. 2021. Vital Signs Survey Summary 2020: A report on subjective human wellbeing. Report to the Puget Sound Partnership.
Fleming, W. and K. Biedenweg. 2019. Visualizing Human Wellbeing in the Puget Sound (Vital Signs Survey Summary 2018). Report to the Puget Sound Partnership.
Human Wellbeing Vital Signs Interactive Web-interface (2018, 2020)
The Puget Sound Partnership believes in the transparency and accessibility of the data used to address puget sound indicators. These data are provided by contributing partners to the Partnership and are made publicly available through the Puget Sound Info site. These data are available on an "as is" basis and the Partnership is not responsible for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies. Please acknowledge the monitoring program and data source when using these data and obtain permission from the Vital Sign Indicator Reporter to use these data in a publication.
- HWB data and codebooks
- Uploaded On
- 07/29/2025
- File Type
- Excel (XLSX)
- Description
- Raw data and codebooks for 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024 datasets
- Reporting Instructions
No Subcategories for this Puget Sound Indicator.