Photo: JonHarder · CC BY-SA 3.0Hesston has 1.9 jobs for every working resident: 2,629 people commute in to work
2,956 jobs are based in Hesston; 1,570 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Hesston are B for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in five work in Hesston; the top destination outside it is Wichita (18%, 31 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Hesston
Hesston makes and builds things
74% of the jobs based in Hesston are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Hesston residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
Hesston is where the jobs are
Hesston has 2,956 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,800 people are in town, 40% more than the 3,500 who live here. Day and night ↓
Hesston’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Hesston is Wichita, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (275) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
The jobs in Hesston pay better than its residents’ jobs
74% of the jobs based in Hesston pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 58% of the jobs Hesston residents hold. 89% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Hesston. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Hesston
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hesston is better than 63% of U.S. towns, #66 of 151 in Kansas. The poverty rate holds Hesston’s grade up (5.7%, U.S. 12.5%); household income pulls it down ($75,225, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hesston could be anywhere from C+ to A.
74% of the jobs in Hesston make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hesston, 2013 → 2023: 3,676 → 2,956. 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 Hesston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Hesston
On a workday 1,243 residents head out to work and 327 work right here.
About 4,800 people are in Hesston on a workday afternoon, 40% more 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Hesston
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.
Commuting in to Hesston: where workers come from
Where Hesston clocks in
18% of workers
17% of workers
5% 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.
Getting to work from Hesston takes about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hesston workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,247 commuters (the 11% 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.
Getting around Hesston: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hesston is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #62 of 151 in Kansas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across Kansas, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,405 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). 1.9% of Hesston households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hesston’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hesston ranks: 1,607th of 4,535 U.S. towns of 2,400 to 4,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Minneha Township KS | 3,472 | $143K | 2.1% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,605 | Providence Township OH | 3,397 | $98K | 7.3% | 5.3% | 2% | B |
| 1,606 | West Buffalo Township PA | 2,852 | $79K | 6.7% | 2.4% | 3% | B |
| 1,607 | Hesston KS | 3,458 | $75K | 5.7% | 4.1% | 21% | B |
| 1,608 | Marietta PA | 2,931 | $54K | 7.3% | 2.9% | 5% | B |
| 1,609 | Oxford Township NJ | 2,469 | $103K | 4.8% | 6.3% | 5% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,535 | 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 Hesston, 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 Hesston: questions
What is the median household income in Hesston?
$75,225 (±$11,526) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hesston?
5.7%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hesston?
18 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hesston work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wichita (18%, 31 mi), Newton (17%, 8 mi), North Newton (5%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hesston walkable?
Hesston is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hesston 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 Hesston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hesston
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.