Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Humboldt earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
24.0% of residents live below the poverty line; Kansas has 11.3%. Jobs and income earn Humboldt D−; getting around on foot earns it B. About one in five work in Humboldt; the top destination outside it is Chanute (18%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Humboldt, in brief
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Humboldt makes and builds things
41% of the jobs based in Humboldt are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Humboldt residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Humboldt are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kansas worker. 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; with 909 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Humboldt: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Humboldt is better than 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Humboldt’s grade.
Unemployment (19.0%) is left out: Humboldt’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, Humboldt could be anywhere from D− to D.
Near or far: the trip to work from Humboldt
About 32% 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.
41% of the jobs in Humboldt make or build things
1,125 jobs are based in Humboldt.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Humboldt, 2013 → 2023: 1,033 → 1,125. 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 Humboldt’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Humboldt: about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Humboldt workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 644 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who commutes out of Humboldt, and who commutes in
On a workday 739 residents head out to work, 170 work right here, and 955 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Humboldt on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.24 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.
Where Humboldt’s working residents head each day
Where Humboldt clocks in
18% of workers
13% 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.
In Humboldt, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Humboldt is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Humboldt 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 674 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). 8.3% of Humboldt households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Humboldt’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400, and where Humboldt sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 44 | Oxford Township KS | 2,058 | $163K | 1.9% | 2.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Lexington Township KS | 1,512 | $135K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Westwood KS | 1,720 | $118K | 1.9% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,933 | Parachute CO | 1,366 | $59K | 27.5% | 18.7% | 8% | D− |
| 4,934 | Albion IL | 1,843 | $57K | 27.8% | 10.2% | 33% | D− |
| 4,935 | Humboldt KS | 1,807 | $48K | 24.0% | 19.0% | 19% | D− |
| 4,936 | Baraga MI | 1,746 | $44K | 17.2% | 1.5% | 42% | D− |
| 4,937 | Loving NM | 1,391 | $44K | 20.1% | 16.2% | 9% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Humboldt, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
Work in the towns next to Humboldt
The biggest share goes to Humboldt Township (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Humboldt workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humboldt | – | D− | B | 15 min | $47,560 |
| Humboldt Township | 4% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Logan Township | under 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Humboldt Township and Logan Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Humboldt’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 Humboldt: questions
What is the median household income in Humboldt?
$47,560 (±$10,671) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Humboldt?
24.0%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Humboldt?
15 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Humboldt work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chanute (18%, 10 mi), Iola (13%, 8 mi), Humboldt Township (4%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Humboldt walkable?
Humboldt is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Humboldt without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Humboldt, from the people who make the trip.
More of Humboldt
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.