About half of Center Township’s working residents commute to Emporia
Only 1% work in Center Township itself; outside it, Emporia draws the most (47%, 11 miles). The two grades for Center Township are B for jobs and income and B− for walkability. 2.5% of residents live below the poverty line (Kansas 11.3%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Center Township
Nearly half of Center Township works in Emporia
261 working residents, 47%, have their main job in Emporia, 11 miles away. That’s 47 times as many as work in Center Township itself. The commute map ↓
Center Township is a place people come home to
There are 83 jobs based in Center Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Center Township has about 650 people in it, 42% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 552 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Center Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Center Township is better than 57% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Center Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.5%) is left out: Center Township’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, Center Township could be anywhere from C to B+.
Where Center Township’s working residents head each day
Where Center Township clocks in
47% of workers
6% of workers
5% 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.
How many people are in Center Township by day
On a workday 544 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 75 people come in from elsewhere.
About 650 people are in Center Township on a workday afternoon, 42% fewer than live here.
0.15 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How far Center Township’s workers travel
About 36% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
What Center Township’s employers do
83 jobs are based in Center Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center Township, 2014 → 2024: 128 → 83. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Center Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Center Township: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center Township workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 478 commuters (the 13% 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.
Driving is how Center Township gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Center Township is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across Kansas, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 547 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). 0.2% of Center Township households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Center Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Center Township is 1,025th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 37 | Lake Quivira KS | 1,005 | $178K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Delaware Township KS | 1,121 | $119K | 2.4% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 86 | Kanwaka Township KS | 1,493 | $126K | 2.5% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,023 | Crimora VA | 1,252 | $83K | 9.0% | 0.0% | 1% | B |
| 1,024 | Port Byron Township IL | 1,359 | $77K | 10.3% | 4.4% | 2% | B |
| 1,025 | Center Township KS | 1,116 | $79K | 2.5% | 0.5% | 1% | B |
| 1,026 | Carbondale Township PA | 1,165 | $76K | 7.9% | 15.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,027 | Mendon VT | 1,167 | $101K | 8.2% | 1.9% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Center Township, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
How Center Township compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Center Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Center Township | – | B | B− | 21 min | $79,375 |
| Elmendaro Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
| Pike Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Madison Township | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| Bazaar Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Matfield Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
| Emporia Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Elmendaro Township, Pike Township, Bazaar Township, Matfield Township and Emporia Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Madison Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Center Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Center Township: questions
What is the median household income in Center Township?
$79,375 (±$25,290) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center Township?
2.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Center Township?
21 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center Township work?
1% work in town.
Is Center Township walkable?
Center Township is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Center Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center Township
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.