Photo: Kaethesson · CC BY-SA 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Canton works elsewhere
Only 4% work in Canton itself; outside it, McPherson draws the most (19%, 13 miles). Employers in Canton report 166 jobs, against 305 working residents. The trip to work takes 25 minutes on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Canton stands out on work
Canton and McPherson trade workers both ways
McPherson is the top workplace for Canton residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Canton come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Canton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 25 minutes each way, against 20 across Kansas. Over a year that’s about 192 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 305 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Canton: the destinations
Where Canton clocks in
14% 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.
The daily trip from Canton: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Canton workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 385 commuters (the 10% 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 daily commute in and out of Canton
On a workday 294 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 155 people come in from elsewhere.
About 520 people are in Canton on a workday afternoon, 21% 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.
The kinds of work in Canton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Canton, 2013 → 2023: 197 → 166. 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 Canton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Canton
About 15% 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 Canton: questions
What is the median household income in Canton?
$70,729 (±$15,464) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Canton?
4.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Canton?
25 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Canton work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McPherson (19%, 13 mi), McPherson Township (14%, 11 mi), Salina (10%, 31 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Canton 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 Canton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Canton
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.