Ellsworth Downtown Historic District · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Ellsworth has lower unemployment (1.6%) than 89% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Ellsworth B−; getting around on foot earns it A−. For 3% of workers, the job is at home, where Kansas as a whole has 12%. About two in five work in Ellsworth itself; outside it, Salina draws the most (10%, 34 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Ellsworth, in brief
Ellsworth’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ellsworth is Salina, 34 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (101) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Commutes from Ellsworth are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kansas worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Ellsworth than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Ellsworth fell from 1,977 in 2013 to 1,441 in 2023, −27%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Few Ellsworth workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 12% across Kansas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 Ellsworth’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ellsworth is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #92 of 151 in Kansas. Unemployment holds Ellsworth’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 11% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ellsworth could be anywhere from C to B.
How far Ellsworth goes to work
About 27% 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.
The trip to work from Ellsworth: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ellsworth workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,050 commuters (the 3% 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.
What work there is in Ellsworth: 1,441 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ellsworth, 2013 → 2023: 1,977 → 1,441. 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 Ellsworth’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Ellsworth on a workday afternoon
On a workday 628 residents head out to work, 415 work right here, and 1,026 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,500 people are in Ellsworth on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.38 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.
Where the trip to work from Ellsworth ends
Where Ellsworth clocks in
4% 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.
Ellsworth is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ellsworth is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #13 of 151 in Kansas. Both inputs place Ellsworth 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 1,087 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). 4.1% of Ellsworth households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ellsworth’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ellsworth next to U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200: 2,422nd of 4,562 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Minneha Township KS | 3,472 | $143K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,420 | Burbank WA | 3,589 | $93K | 14.5% | 4.9% | 9% | B− |
| 2,421 | Petersburg IN | 2,289 | $54K | 11.5% | 1.7% | 16% | B− |
| 2,422 | Ellsworth KS | 3,092 | $67K | 10.0% | 1.6% | 40% | B− |
| 2,423 | New York Mills NY | 3,162 | $58K | 34.4% | 1.2% | 4% | B− |
| 2,424 | Honeoye Falls NY | 2,841 | $82K | 10.3% | 11.0% | 13% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | 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 Ellsworth, 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 Ellsworth: questions
What is the median household income in Ellsworth?
$66,821 (±$9,234) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ellsworth?
10.0%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ellsworth?
13 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ellsworth work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salina (10%, 34 mi), Wichita (4%, 86 mi), Wilson (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ellsworth walkable?
Ellsworth is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ellsworth 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 Ellsworth, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ellsworth
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.