Photo: formulanone from Huntsville, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Blue Rapids works elsewhere
Only 5% stay in Blue Rapids for work; outside it, Marysville is the main destination (24%, 12 miles). There are 93 jobs in Blue Rapids, and 407 of its residents work somewhere. 1% 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
Where Blue Rapids stands out on work
Blue Rapids is a place people come home to
There are 93 jobs based in Blue Rapids, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Blue Rapids has about 600 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Blue Rapids workers work from home
Only 1% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 407 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who leaves Blue Rapids for work, and who comes in
On a workday 386 residents head out to work, 21 work right here, and 72 people come in from elsewhere.
About 600 people are in Blue Rapids on a workday afternoon, 35% 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 2023, primary jobs.
How long Blue Rapids spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blue Rapids workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 357 commuters (the 1% 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 places Blue Rapids commutes to
Where Blue Rapids clocks in
24% of workers
14% 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.
What Blue Rapids’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blue Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 143 → 93. 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 Blue Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Near or far: the trip to work from Blue Rapids
About 20% 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 Blue Rapids: questions
What is the median household income in Blue Rapids?
$53,214 (±$16,317) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blue Rapids?
5.3%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blue Rapids?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blue Rapids work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marysville (24%, 12 mi), Waterville (14%, 5 mi), Blue Rapids City Township (8%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Blue Rapids without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blue Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blue Rapids
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.