Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Where Herington earns its living
1% of workers work from home, where Kansas as a whole has 12%. Herington grades C for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in four work in Herington itself; outside it, Salina draws the most (10%, 44 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Herington
Herington’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Herington is Salina, 44 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (77) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Herington 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 ↓
Few Herington workers work from home
Only 1% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 781 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Herington: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Herington is better than 31% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Herington’s grade up (7.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 6% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (0.5%) is left out: Herington’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Herington could be anywhere from C− to B−.
Miles to work from Herington
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How long Herington spends getting to work: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Herington workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 862 commuters (the 1% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Herington
On a workday 556 residents head out to work, 225 work right here, and 309 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in Herington on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Herington’s working residents head each day
Where Herington clocks in
6% of workers
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.
Herington works in goods: 30% of its jobs
534 jobs are based in Herington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Herington, 2014 → 2024: 617 → 534. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Herington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Herington, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Herington is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.5% 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 869 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). 2.8% of Herington households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Herington’s commuters take a bus or train.
Herington is 3,154th of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Oxford Township KS | 2,058 | $163K | 1.9% | 2.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Lexington Township KS | 1,512 | $135K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Westwood KS | 1,720 | $118K | 1.9% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,152 | Rayburn Township PA | 1,716 | $70K | 11.7% | 4.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,153 | Cottondale AL | 2,632 | $45K | 32.0% | 2.9% | 1% | C |
| 3,154 | Herington KS | 2,101 | $71K | 7.6% | 0.5% | 29% | C |
| 3,155 | Coxsackie NY | 2,662 | $71K | 8.3% | 7.5% | 10% | C |
| 3,156 | Pink OK | 2,200 | $72K | 14.4% | 5.1% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Herington, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
Herington and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Township 7 (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Herington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herington | – | C | C+ | 28 min | $70,574 |
| Lyon Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Township 7 | 3% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Highland Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Lyon Township, Township 7 and Highland Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Herington’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 2024, 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 Herington: questions
What is the median household income in Herington?
$70,574 (±$6,683) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Herington?
7.6%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Herington?
28 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Herington work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salina (10%, 44 mi), Junction City (6%, 23 mi), Manhattan (4%, 36 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Herington walkable?
Herington is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Herington without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Herington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Herington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.