Photo: CommunicationsDeSoto · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in De Soto (8.6%) is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in De Soto; the top destination outside it is Overland Park (15%, 16 miles). For jobs and income De Soto is better than 68% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (B−). Measured by household income, De Soto is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in De Soto, in brief
De Soto trades workers with the towns around it
De Soto has about as many jobs (3,290) as working residents (2,961), but they are mostly different people: 2,513 residents leave for work each day while 2,842 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in De Soto are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
De Soto workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 20 across Kansas. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A lot of De Soto works one town over
30% of working residents work in a town that borders De Soto: Olathe (13%), Lenexa (11%) and Shawnee (6%). Next door ↓
De Soto makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in De Soto are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs De Soto residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 18%. The jobs ↓
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.
Inside De Soto’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds De Soto’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, De Soto could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
In and out of De Soto on a workday
On a workday 2,513 residents head out to work, 448 work right here, and 2,842 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 (1.11 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.
About 28 minutes each way for De Soto’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of De Soto workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,713 commuters (the 19% 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.
38% of the jobs in De Soto make or build things
3,290 jobs are based in De Soto.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in De Soto, 2013 → 2023: 2,921 → 3,290. 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 De Soto’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where De Soto goes to work
Where De Soto clocks in
11% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from De Soto
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.
In De Soto, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across Kansas, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,348 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.1% of De Soto households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of De Soto’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, De Soto is 1,215th among 3,164 U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,600
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Pleasant Township KS | 5,459 | $113K | 0.8% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Tecumseh Township KS | 7,829 | $110K | 2.7% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 244 | Eudora Township KS | 7,870 | $119K | 4.6% | 2.3% | 11% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,213 | Union Township OH | 6,303 | $94K | 11.4% | 0.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,214 | Hutchison VA | 7,284 | $106K | 14.5% | 4.8% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,215 | De Soto KS | 7,083 | $104K | 6.1% | 8.6% | 15% | B+ |
| 1,216 | Grand Blanc MI | 7,880 | $68K | 9.0% | 2.5% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,217 | Collegeville PA | 5,287 | $91K | 7.1% | 6.7% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,164 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 De Soto, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
30% of De Soto works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Olathe (13%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | De Soto workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Soto | – | B+ | B− | 28 min | $104,000 |
| Lexington Township | under 2% | A+ | B− | 24 min | $135,068 |
| Lenexa | 11% | A | B+ | 19 min | $103,239 |
| Olathe | 13% | A | B+ | 21 min | $114,009 |
| Shawnee | 6% | A | B− | 22 min | $109,940 |
| Sherman Township | under 2% | A+ | D− | 27 min | $127,159 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of De Soto’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 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 De Soto: questions
What is the median household income in De Soto?
$104,000 (±$29,249) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in De Soto?
6.1%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from De Soto?
28 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in De Soto work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Overland Park (15%, 16 mi), Olathe (13%, 10 mi), Lenexa (11%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is De Soto walkable?
De Soto is more walkable than 51% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around De Soto without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from De Soto, from the people who make the trip.
More of De Soto
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.