Photo: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center · Public domainGardner has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.6 for each
About one in seven stay in Gardner for work; outside it, Olathe is the main destination (21%, 8 miles). Employers in Gardner report 6,480 jobs, and 11,625 of its residents work somewhere. Gardner grades A− for jobs and income and B− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Gardner apart on work
Gardner and Olathe trade workers both ways
Olathe is the top workplace for Gardner residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Gardner come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Gardner has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Gardner went from 4,171 in 2013 to 6,480 in 2023, +55%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Gardner’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gardner is better than 80% of U.S. towns, #36 of 151 in Kansas. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (3.8%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gardner could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Where people from Gardner work
Where Gardner clocks in
9% 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.
What Gardner’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gardner, 2013 → 2023: 4,171 → 6,480. 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 Gardner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Gardner by day
On a workday 10,124 residents head out to work, 1,501 work right here, and 4,979 people come in from elsewhere.
About 21,000 people are in Gardner on a workday afternoon, 20% 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.
A commute of about 23 minutes in Gardner
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gardner workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,306 commuters (the 14% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Gardner
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.
Getting around Gardner: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gardner is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns, #91 of 151 in Kansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.4% across Kansas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,103 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 35% 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 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% 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). 2.2% of Gardner households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Gardner’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Gardner is 547th of 1,576 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 185 | Prairie Village KS | 23,008 | $114K | 5.7% | 3.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 338 | Bruno Township KS | 19,221 | $103K | 5.3% | 2.8% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 545 | Roscoe Township IL | 20,256 | $109K | 4.8% | 4.4% | 7% | A− |
| 546 | Lysander NY | 23,110 | $108K | 5.8% | 3.9% | 12% | A− |
| 547 | Gardner KS | 26,154 | $97K | 6.3% | 3.8% | 13% | A− |
| 548 | Stoughton MA | 29,845 | $105K | 8.4% | 4.2% | 10% | A− |
| 549 | West Deptford Township NJ | 22,681 | $94K | 6.9% | 4.4% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Gardner, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
Next door is work for 26% of Gardner
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gardner workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gardner | – | A− | B− | 23 min | $96,818 |
| Gardner Township | 3% | A+ | C− | 28 min | $116,136 |
| McCamish Township | under 2% | — | — | 29 min | — |
| Spring Hill Township | under 2% | B+ | B | 32 min | $110,536 |
| Edgerton | 2% | A− | D | 24 min | $84,838 |
| Olathe | 21% | A | B+ | 21 min | $114,009 |
Same-state neighbors only. McCamish Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Olathe. Darker towns draw more of Gardner’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 Gardner: questions
What is the median household income in Gardner?
$96,818 (±$6,474) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gardner?
6.3%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gardner?
23 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gardner work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Olathe (21%, 8 mi), Overland Park (15%, 14 mi), Lenexa (9%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gardner walkable?
Gardner is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gardner without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gardner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gardner
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.