Williams' Store · Photo: AbeEzekowitz · CC BY-SA 3.0Garden Township has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Garden Township report 323 jobs, and 1,126 of its residents work somewhere. Garden Township grades A− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Only 4% work in Garden Township itself; outside it, Joplin draws the most (28%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Garden Township, in a few figures
Many Garden Township workers cross into Missouri
58% of Garden Township workers work outside Kansas, most of them in Missouri, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Garden Township is a place people come home to
There are 323 jobs based in Garden Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Garden Township has about 1,900 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
28% of Garden Township works in Joplin
316 working residents, 28%, have their main job in Joplin, MO, 10 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Garden Township itself. The commute map ↓
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 Garden Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Garden Township is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #38 of 151 in Kansas. Unemployment holds Garden Township’s grade up (1.8%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Garden Township could be anywhere from B− to A.
Where the trip to work from Garden Township ends
Where Garden Township clocks in
28% of workers
8% 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.
In and out of Garden Township on a workday
On a workday 1,077 residents head out to work, 49 work right here, and 274 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Garden Township on a workday afternoon, 30% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Garden Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Garden Township, 2013 → 2023: 317 → 323. 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 Garden Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Garden Township: about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Garden Township workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,381 commuters (the 8% 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 many miles Garden Township commutes
About 22% 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.
Driving is how Garden Township gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Garden Township is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns, #147 of 151 in Kansas. Both inputs place Garden Township 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 1,506 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). 2.1% of Garden Township households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Garden Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
879th of 4,969: where Garden Township ranks among U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Oxford Township KS | 2,058 | $163K | 1.9% | 2.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 58 | Minneha Township KS | 3,472 | $143K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 877 | Winneconne WI | 2,498 | $82K | 5.4% | 2.7% | 13% | A− |
| 878 | Brown Township IL | 2,112 | $91K | 2.1% | 1.6% | 8% | A− |
| 879 | Garden Township KS | 2,713 | $86K | 4.2% | 1.8% | 4% | A− |
| 880 | Auburn Township KS | 3,319 | $89K | 6.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A− |
| 881 | Chichester NH | 2,834 | $109K | 6.0% | 2.2% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,969 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Garden Township, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
The towns next door employ 19% of Garden Township
The biggest share goes to Baxter Springs (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Garden Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden Township | – | A− | D | 19 min | $86,074 |
| Galena | 8% | C+ | C− | 19 min | $49,006 |
| Spring Valley Township | under 2% | C+ | D− | 19 min | $86,429 |
| Baxter Springs | 9% | D | B− | 19 min | $51,404 |
| Lowell Township | 2% | — | — | 17 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lowell Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Garden 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 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 Garden Township: questions
What is the median household income in Garden Township?
$86,074 (±$11,542) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Garden Township?
4.2%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Garden Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Garden Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joplin (28%, 10 mi), Baxter Springs (9%, 3 mi), Galena (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Garden Township walkable?
Garden Township is more walkable than 8% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Garden Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Garden Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Garden Township
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.