Photo: Spacini · CC BY-SA 3.0Hugoton’s household incomes are lower than in 69% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Hugoton is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (B−). Poverty touches 15.8% of residents; Kansas has 11.3%. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, next to 12% for Kansas as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Hugoton: the gist
Most jobs in Hugoton go to people who live here
Of the 1,329 jobs based in Hugoton, 53% are held by Hugoton residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Few Hugoton 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.
Why Hugoton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
Unemployment holds Hugoton’s grade up (3.5%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hugoton could be anywhere from D to B−.
Hugoton by day and by night
On a workday 803 residents head out to work, 705 work right here, and 624 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 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.
Time on the road from Hugoton: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hugoton workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,720 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.
7% of working residents work in Liberal
Where Hugoton clocks in
7% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
The 1,329 jobs based in Hugoton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hugoton, 2013 → 2023: 1,380 → 1,329. 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 Hugoton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Hugoton commutes
About 19% 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.
Few in Hugoton walk, bike or ride to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% 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 1,766 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). 3.4% of Hugoton households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hugoton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Hugoton ranks: 3,355th of 4,355 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Aubry Township KS | 4,719 | $134K | 0.7% | 1.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,353 | Wescott WI | 3,287 | $73K | 15.8% | 5.9% | 1% | C− |
| 3,354 | Heceta Beach OR | 2,651 | $80K | 12.9% | 15.5% | <1% | C− |
| 3,355 | Hugoton KS | 3,545 | $63K | 15.8% | 3.5% | 47% | C− |
| 3,356 | Ford City PA | 2,750 | $58K | 17.4% | 5.1% | 8% | C− |
| 3,357 | Thruston KY | 2,581 | $70K | 21.6% | 6.5% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Hugoton, 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 Hugoton: questions
What is the median household income in Hugoton?
$62,773 (±$8,113) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hugoton?
15.8%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hugoton?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hugoton work?
47% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Liberal (7%, 25 mi), Wichita (3%, 222 mi), Garden City (2%, 62 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hugoton walkable?
Hugoton is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hugoton 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 Hugoton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hugoton
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.