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Jobs & commute in Bison

With 0.1 jobs for every working resident, most of Bison works elsewhere

Hardly any work in Bison; the top destination outside it is La Crosse (18%, 6 miles). Employers in Bison report 9 jobs for 67 working residents. Working from home is the commute for 0% of workers (Kansas 12%).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

A workday in Bison: who goes, who stays, who comes

On a workday 67 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 9 people come in from elsewhere.

67live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
9work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night170
Workday110
170live here− 67head out to work+ 9come in to work= 110on a workday

About 110 people are in Bison on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.13jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

The places Bison commutes to

Susank: 2 residents work here (3%)BisonMcCrackenLa Crosse: 12 residents work here (18%)St. John: 2 residents work here (3%)RussellHays: 8 residents work here (12%)McPherson: 2 residents work here (3%)Great Bend: 3 residents work here (4%)Hutchinson: 2 residents work here (3%)Wichita: 3 residents work here (4%)TopekaKansas CityLa Crosse-Brookdale Township: 7 residents work here (10%)Hampton-Fairview TownshipPawnee Township: 4 residents work here (6%)Garfield TownshipLa CrosseHaysLa Crosse-Brookdale TownshipPawnee TownshipGreat BendWichitaBison
1
La Crosse6.1 mi away
18%12
2
Hays25.9 mi away
12%8
4
Pawnee Township20.5 mi away
6%4
5
Great Bend24.3 mi away
4%3
6
Wichita115.8 mi away
4%3
7
Susank24.3 mi away
3%2
8
St. John43 mi away
3%2
9
McPherson83.6 mi away
3%2
10
Hutchinson76.7 mi away
3%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
33%22
The top trips

Where Bison clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

Most jobs in Bison are in services

Jobs based in BisonJobs Bison residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%15%
Trade, transport & utilities0%13%
Services: health, schools, offices100%72%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less11%25%
$1,251–$3,333 a month22%28%
Over $3,333 a month67%46%

Who does it

29 or younger0%19%
30 to 5444%60%
55 and older56%21%
+200%

Jobs based in Bison, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 9. 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 Bison’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

About 17 minutes each way for Bison’s commuters

A year of commuting
133 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Bison17 min
Kansas20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
0%

of Bison workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How Bison gets to work
97%Drive alone
1%Carpool
2%Walk

Share of the 86 commuters (the 0% 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.

How far

Half of Bison commutes less than 25 miles

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miLa Crosse: 18% · 6.1 miHays: 12% · 25.9 miLa Crosse-Brookdale Township: 10% · 9.5 miPawnee Township: 6% · 20.5 miGreat Bend: 4% · 24.3 miWichita: 4% · 115.8 miSusank: 3% · 24.3 miSt. John: 3% · 43 miMcPherson: 3% · 83.6 miHutchinson: 3% · 76.7 miLa Crosse 18%Hays 12%La Crosse-Brookdale Township 10%Pawnee Township 6%Great Bend 4%Bison
BisonTop destinations (size = commuters)
34%Under 10 mi23 residents
15%10–24 mi10 residents
22%25–50 mi15 residents
28%Over 50 mi19 residents

About 28% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Bison: questions

What is the median household income in Bison?

$65,822 (±$3,439) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Bison?

3.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Bison?

17 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Bison work?

0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are La Crosse (18%, 6 mi), Hays (12%, 26 mi), La Crosse-Brookdale Township (10%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Bison without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Bison, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Bison

Bison home →

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.