Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainAlta Vista has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
3% of workers have no commute at all (Kansas 12%). There are 99 jobs in Alta Vista for 203 working residents. Hardly any work in Alta Vista; the top destination outside it is Topeka (15%, 44 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Alta Vista and work: the main findings
Alta Vista’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Alta Vista is Topeka, 44 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (31) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Alta Vista workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 20 across Kansas. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 92 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Alta Vista workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 12% across Kansas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 203 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Alta Vista
About 22% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 32 minutes each way for Alta Vista’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alta Vista workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 194 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Kansas: 85% 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.
Who works in Alta Vista, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 201 residents head out to work, 2 work right here, and 97 people come in from elsewhere.
About 300 people are in Alta Vista on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Alta Vista ends
Where Alta Vista clocks in
15% of workers
12% of workers
11% 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.
Alta Vista works in goods: 72% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alta Vista, 2014 → 2024: 79 → 99. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alta Vista’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Alta Vista: questions
What is the median household income in Alta Vista?
$51,250 (±$12,874) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alta Vista?
25.7%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alta Vista?
32 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alta Vista work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Topeka (15%, 44 mi), Manhattan (12%, 23 mi), Alma (11%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Alta Vista without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alta Vista, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alta Vista
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.