Photo: Ichabod · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Larned (1.8%) is lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Larned is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (C+). Measured by household income, Larned is behind 80% of U.S. towns. About one in four work in Larned itself; outside it, Pawnee Township draws the most (22%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Larned: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in Larned than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Larned fell from 2,303 in 2013 to 985 in 2023, −57%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Larned’s working residents have a job less than 3 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 22 minutes, longer than the Kansas average of 20. 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.
The figures behind Larned’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Larned’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 13% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Larned could be anywhere from D to B−.
Inside Larned’s 985 jobs
985 jobs are based in Larned.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Larned, 2013 → 2023: 2,303 → 985. 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 Larned’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Larned
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Larned workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,441 commuters (the 10% 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 Larned, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,178 residents head out to work, 363 work right here, and 622 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,000 people are in Larned on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.64 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 Larned commutes to
Where Larned clocks in
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.
How far it is to work from Larned
About 26% 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 Larned, most people drive to work
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.4% across Kansas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,601 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). 10.4% of Larned households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Larned’s commuters take a bus or train.
Larned is 3,085th of 4,474 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Aubry Township KS | 4,719 | $134K | 0.7% | 1.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,083 | Wolf Township PA | 3,084 | $71K | 13.1% | 6.1% | 3% | C |
| 3,084 | Oregon IL | 3,573 | $72K | 14.8% | 5.4% | 20% | C |
| 3,085 | Larned KS | 3,596 | $56K | 14.0% | 1.8% | 24% | C |
| 3,086 | Mondovi WI | 2,853 | $54K | 13.3% | 3.4% | 22% | C |
| 3,087 | Lockport Township MI | 3,825 | $74K | 13.0% | 6.9% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,474 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Larned, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
How Larned compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Pleasant Grove Township (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Larned workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Larned | – | C | C+ | 22 min | $55,648 |
| Larned Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Pleasant Grove Township | 2% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Larned Township and Pleasant Grove Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Larned’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 Larned: questions
What is the median household income in Larned?
$55,648 (±$10,202) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Larned?
14.0%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Larned?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Larned work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pawnee Township (22%, 5 mi), Santa Fe Township (9%, 6 mi), Great Bend (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Larned walkable?
Larned is more walkable than 45% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Larned without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Larned, from the people who make the trip.
More of Larned
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.