Making a living in Isabel
Commuters spend 23 minutes getting to work on average; the Kansas average is 20, the U.S. 26. 0% of workers work from home, next to 12% for Kansas as a whole. Hardly any stay in Isabel for work; outside it, Medicine Lodge is the main destination (29%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Isabel quiets down on a workday
On a workday 31 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 23 people come in from elsewhere.
About 57 people are in Isabel on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.74 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 2023, primary jobs.
The places Isabel commutes to
Where Isabel clocks in
16% of workers
6% 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.
Jobs in Isabel: what the 23 are
23 jobs are based in Isabel.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Isabel, 2013 → 2023: 18 → 23. 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 Isabel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Isabel takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Isabel workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 56 commuters (the 0% 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.
How far it is to work from Isabel
About 27% 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.
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 Isabel: questions
What is the median household income in Isabel?
$62,132 (±$23,310) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Isabel?
6.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Isabel?
23 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Isabel work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Medicine Lodge (29%, 13 mi), Medicine Lodge Township (16%, 12 mi), Pratt (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Isabel without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Isabel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Isabel
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.