Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Kensington at work: jobs, income and the commute
Working residents average 14 minutes each way (Kansas 20, U.S. 26). 4% of workers have no commute at all (Kansas 12%). About one in seven work in Kensington; the top destination outside it is Smith Center (22%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
How many people are in Kensington by day
On a workday 138 residents head out to work, 19 work right here, and 132 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 (0.96 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Kensington: the destinations
Where Kensington clocks in
22% 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.
What the 151 jobs in Kensington are
151 jobs are based in Kensington.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kensington, 2014 → 2024: 263 → 151. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kensington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Kensington, about 14 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kensington workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 268 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.
The distance from Kensington to work
About 29% 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 2024.
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 2024, 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 Kensington: questions
What is the median household income in Kensington?
$54,583 (±$27,189) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kensington?
10.8%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kensington?
14 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kensington work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Smith Center (22%, 13 mi), Phillipsburg (6%, 15 mi), Downs (3%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Kensington 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 Kensington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kensington
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.