Alton at work: jobs, income and the commute
Alton has 32 jobs, against 37 working residents. Only 3% work in Alton itself; outside it, Osborne draws the most (24%, 13 miles). 18% of workers have no commute at all, where Kansas as a whole has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Alton on a workday afternoon
On a workday 36 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 31 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 (0.86 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.
Where Alton goes to work
Where Alton clocks in
24% of workers
8% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Alton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alton, 2013 → 2023: 48 → 32. 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 Alton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Alton
of Alton workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 32 commuters (the 18% 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.
The distance from Alton to work
About 27% 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.
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 Alton: questions
What is the poverty rate in Alton?
14.9%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Alton work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Osborne (24%, 13 mi), Downs (8%, 22 mi), Manhattan (8%, 127 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Alton without a car?
6% of commuters take transit and 28% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alton
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.