George T Brown House · Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Junction City (6.2%) is higher than in 76% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Junction City is better than 19% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (B). About two in five work in Junction City; the top destination outside it is Manhattan (13%, 17 miles). Measured by household income, Junction City is behind 72% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Junction City
Job access by car holds Junction City’s grade up (ahead of 39% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Junction City could be anywhere from D to C.
Who leaves Junction City for work, and who comes in
On a workday 4,689 residents head out to work, 2,892 work right here, and 4,088 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 (0.92 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 people from Junction City work
Where Junction City clocks in
13% of workers
7% 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 6,980 jobs based in Junction City
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Junction City, 2013 → 2023: 7,682 → 6,980. 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 Junction City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Junction City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Junction City workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,082 commuters (the 6% 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 Junction City goes to work
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.
In Junction City, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, the same share as across Kansas, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,718 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). 6.7% of Junction City households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Junction City’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000, and where Junction City sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 195 | Prairie Village KS | 23,008 | $114K | 5.7% | 3.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Andover KS | 17,370 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 350 | Bruno Township KS | 19,221 | $103K | 5.3% | 2.8% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,516 | St. Marys GA | 20,546 | $74K | 17.4% | 7.6% | 17% | C− |
| 1,517 | Waterville ME | 17,579 | $54K | 20.6% | 5.5% | 32% | C− |
| 1,518 | Junction City KS | 22,583 | $61K | 17.5% | 6.2% | 38% | C− |
| 1,519 | Pittsburg KS | 20,569 | $43K | 29.6% | 4.0% | 49% | C− |
| 1,520 | Watertown NY | 23,517 | $52K | 20.1% | 5.3% | 44% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Junction City, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
How Junction City compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Smoky Hill Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Junction City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junction City | – | C− | B | 19 min | $61,181 |
| Smoky Hill Township | 4% | D− | B+ | 12 min | $50,922 |
| Jefferson Township | under 2% | D | C+ | 18 min | $41,667 |
| Milford Township | under 2% | B | C+ | 21 min | $93,889 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Junction City’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 Junction City: questions
What is the median household income in Junction City?
$61,181 (±$7,323) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Junction City?
17.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Junction City?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Junction City work?
38% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manhattan (13%, 17 mi), Topeka (7%, 62 mi), Lyon Township (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Junction City walkable?
Junction City is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Junction City without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Junction City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Junction City
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.