Altamont’s household incomes are lower than in 66% of U.S. towns
Only 7% stay in Altamont for work; outside it, Parsons is the main destination (33%, 10 miles). Below the poverty line: 4.5% of residents; Kansas has 11.3%. For jobs and income Altamont is better than 43% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Altamont
Altamont and Parsons trade workers both ways
Parsons is the top workplace for Altamont residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Altamont come from (19% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Altamont pay little
26% of the jobs based in Altamont pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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 357 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Altamont: the grade in detail
The poverty rate holds Altamont’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 17% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (1.8%) is left out: Altamont’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Altamont could be anywhere from C− to B.
Where the trip to work from Altamont ends
Where Altamont clocks in
33% of workers
6% of workers
4% 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Altamont
365 jobs are based in Altamont.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Altamont, 2013 → 2023: 372 → 365. 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 Altamont’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Altamont on a workday afternoon
On a workday 331 residents head out to work, 26 work right here, and 339 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.02 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting from Altamont: about 21 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Altamont workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 569 commuters (the 6% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Altamont
About 19% 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.
In Altamont, the car does most of the work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 605 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.8% of Altamont households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Altamont’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Altamont is 1,256th among 3,133 U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 30 | Lake Quivira KS | 1,005 | $178K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Delaware Township KS | 1,121 | $119K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Payne Township KS | 1,375 | $104K | 1.8% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,254 | Winthrop MN | 1,341 | $69K | 6.1% | 6.5% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,255 | Marsing ID | 1,230 | $70K | 10.2% | 1.7% | 8% | C+ |
| 1,256 | Altamont KS | 1,053 | $65K | 4.5% | 1.8% | 7% | C+ |
| 1,257 | Blue Ridge TX | 1,265 | $77K | 20.6% | 2.8% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,258 | Rapid River Township MI | 1,301 | $72K | 4.9% | 1.3% | 3% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Altamont, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
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 Altamont: questions
What is the median household income in Altamont?
$64,716 (±$12,952) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Altamont?
4.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Altamont?
21 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Altamont work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Parsons (33%, 10 mi), Coffeyville (6%, 22 mi), Pittsburg (4%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Altamont walkable?
Altamont is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Altamont 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 Altamont, from the people who make the trip.
More of Altamont
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.