How Kiowa works: jobs, income and commuting
About one in three work in Kiowa itself; outside it, Wichita draws the most (10%, 78 miles). Home is the office for 2% of workers (Kansas 12%). Commuters spend 14 minutes getting to work on average; Kansas averages 20, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Kiowa apart on work
Kiowa’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Kiowa is Wichita, 78 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (37) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 ↓
Commutes from Kiowa are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 46 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 359 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How far Kiowa’s workers travel
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.
Each way, about 14 minutes from Kiowa
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kiowa workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 446 commuters (the 2% 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 leaves Kiowa for work, and who comes in
On a workday 233 residents head out to work, 126 work right here, and 238 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 (1.01 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 the trip to work from Kiowa ends
Where Kiowa clocks in
10% 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 kinds of work in Kiowa
364 jobs are based in Kiowa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kiowa, 2013 → 2023: 426 → 364. 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 Kiowa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Kiowa: questions
What is the median household income in Kiowa?
$50,833 (±$18,029) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kiowa?
10.7%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kiowa?
14 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kiowa work?
35% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wichita (10%, 78 mi), Medicine Lodge (8%, 19 mi), Alva (3%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Kiowa 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 Kiowa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kiowa
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.