Photo: Stephen Marks - (WT-en) StephenM at English Wikivoyage · Public domainHardly anyone in Ketchum is out of work
Ketchum grades B+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.0 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 2.7 in Boise City. Household incomes here are higher than in 71% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Ketchum: the gist
Ketchum has far more jobs than workers
Ketchum has 3,898 jobs, 4.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 6,700 people are in town, 83% more than the 3,600 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Ketchum are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 22 across Idaho. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Idaho worker. Time on the road ↓
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; with 887 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Ketchum: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ketchum is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #5 of 59 in Idaho. Unemployment holds Ketchum’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ketchum could be anywhere from B to A−.
A workday in Ketchum: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 560 residents head out to work, 327 work right here, and 3,571 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,700 people are in Ketchum on a workday afternoon, 83% more than live here.
4.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ketchum
About 33% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
From Ketchum, about 13 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ketchum workers work from home, vs 13% across Idaho. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,018 commuters (the 19% who work from home are left out). Across Idaho: 84% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Commuting in to Ketchum: where workers come from
Where Ketchum clocks in
13% of workers
8% 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.
The 3,898 jobs based in Ketchum
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ketchum, 2013 → 2023: 3,135 → 3,898. 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 Ketchum’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Ketchum is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ketchum is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #1 of 59 in Idaho. Both inputs place Ketchum 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 2,481 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, 54% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 57% 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). 1.2% of Ketchum households have no vehicle (Idaho 3.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Ketchum’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ketchum next to U.S. towns of 2,600 to 4,900: 1,094th of 4,210 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 699 | Hidden Springs ID | 3,378 | $163K | 7.2% | 4.3% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,092 | Maugansville MD | 3,624 | $79K | 9.0% | 1.6% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,093 | Park Layne OH | 4,301 | $83K | 13.3% | 1.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,094 | Ketchum ID | 3,643 | $93K | 5.2% | 0.0% | 37% | B+ |
| 1,095 | Barry Township MI | 3,502 | $91K | 8.1% | 1.2% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,096 | Wilton IA | 2,892 | $77K | 8.9% | 0.6% | 10% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,280 | Iona ID | 3,179 | $85K | 12.2% | 1.0% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,284 | Filer ID | 3,026 | $65K | 5.1% | 0.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,210 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Ketchum, the top three, the last and three more from Idaho.
Ketchum and its neighbors: 13% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ketchum workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ketchum | – | B+ | A+ | 13 min | $93,046 |
| Sun Valley | 13% | B | A | 13 min | $125,987 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Sun Valley. Darker towns draw more of Ketchum’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 Ketchum: questions
What is the median household income in Ketchum?
$93,046 (±$5,469) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,800 across Idaho and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ketchum?
5.2%, against 10.6% across Idaho and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ketchum?
13 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Idaho and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ketchum work?
37% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sun Valley (13%, 2 mi), Boise City (8%, 93 mi), Hailey (7%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ketchum walkable?
Ketchum is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.6 out of 20, and 21% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ketchum without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 54% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ketchum, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ketchum
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.