Photo: Richard Bauer · CC BY 2.0At 0.6%, unemployment in Colby is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 10 minutes getting to work on average; Kansas averages 20, the U.S. 26. The two grades for Colby are B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. More than half work in Colby; the top destination outside it is Morgan Township (5%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Colby: the gist
Most jobs in Colby go to people who live here
Of the 2,722 jobs based in Colby, 53% are held by Colby residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Colby are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kansas 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.
Where Colby’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Colby is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #78 of 151 in Kansas. Unemployment holds Colby’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 15% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Colby could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
How a workday changes Colby
On a workday 1,149 residents head out to work, 1,441 work right here, and 1,281 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 (1.05 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.
The trip to work from Colby: about 10 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Colby workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,668 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 places Colby commutes to
Where Colby clocks in
3% 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 kinds of work in Colby
2,722 jobs are based in Colby.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Colby, 2013 → 2023: 2,654 → 2,722. 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 Colby’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Colby works
About 25% 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.
Most trips from Colby start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Colby is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #39 of 151 in Kansas. Both inputs place Colby near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,972 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). 4.5% of Colby households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Colby’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Colby ranks: 1,896th of 3,612 U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Aubry Township KS | 4,719 | $134K | 0.7% | 1.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Pleasant Township KS | 5,459 | $113K | 0.8% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,894 | Pecan Plantation TX | 6,452 | $105K | 3.5% | 19.2% | 7% | B− |
| 1,895 | Bremen IN | 4,592 | $68K | 25.5% | 0.5% | 27% | B− |
| 1,896 | Colby KS | 5,489 | $63K | 8.0% | 0.6% | 56% | B− |
| 1,897 | Auburn Township IL | 5,805 | $81K | 9.6% | 4.5% | 12% | B− |
| 1,898 | Rutland Township MI | 4,308 | $88K | 8.1% | 6.3% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Colby, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
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 Colby: questions
What is the median household income in Colby?
$63,494 (±$11,901) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Colby?
8.0%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Colby?
10 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Colby work?
56% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Morgan Township (5%, 4 mi), Oakley (3%, 21 mi), Hays (3%, 99 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Colby walkable?
Colby is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Colby without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Colby, from the people who make the trip.
More of Colby
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. 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.