Cedar Creek Bridge · Photo: Alishasmith1005 · CC BY-SA 4.0With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Elgin works elsewhere
8 jobs are based in Elgin; 23 of its residents have a job. Hardly any stay in Elgin for work; outside it, Sedan is the main destination (13%, 10 miles). 36% 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
The daily flow of workers through Elgin
On a workday 23 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 8 people come in from elsewhere.
About 42 people are in Elgin on a workday afternoon, 26% 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 places Elgin commutes to
Where Elgin clocks in
Lines 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Elgin
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Elgin, 2013 → 2023: 26 → 8. 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 Elgin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Elgin
of Elgin workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16 commuters (the 36% 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.
How far Elgin goes to work
About 45% 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 Elgin: questions
What is the poverty rate in Elgin?
13.9%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Elgin work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sedan (13%, 10 mi), Cedar Vale (9%, 14 mi), El Dorado (9%, 65 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Elgin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Elgin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Elgin
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.