Teichgraeber-Runbeck House · Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0Making a living in Lindsborg
Commuters spend 16 minutes getting to work on average, next to 20 for Kansas and 26 for the U.S. Lindsborg grades B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in four stay in Lindsborg for work; outside it, Salina is the main destination (22%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lindsborg
Many jobs in Lindsborg pay little
32% of the jobs based in Lindsborg pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Lindsborg and Salina trade workers both ways
Salina is the top workplace for Lindsborg residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Lindsborg come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Lindsborg
55% of Lindsborg residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Lindsborg pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 71% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Lindsborg
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lindsborg is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #79 of 151 in Kansas. The poverty rate holds Lindsborg’s grade up (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lindsborg could be anywhere from C to A−.
Jobs in Lindsborg: what the 1,036 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lindsborg, 2013 → 2023: 1,041 → 1,036. 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 Lindsborg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Lindsborg’s working residents head each day
Where Lindsborg clocks in
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.
Lindsborg by day and by night
On a workday 1,010 residents head out to work, 412 work right here, and 624 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,400 people are in Lindsborg on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
Commuting from Lindsborg: about 16 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lindsborg workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,793 commuters (the 9% 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 many miles Lindsborg commutes
About 20% 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.
Lindsborg is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lindsborg is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns, #19 of 151 in Kansas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 14.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across Kansas, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,980 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). 1.3% of Lindsborg households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lindsborg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200, Lindsborg comes 2,122nd 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 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,120 | Two Harbors MN | 3,443 | $66K | 11.7% | 0.3% | 31% | B− |
| 2,121 | Rollingwood CA | 3,627 | $100K | 14.7% | 10.0% | <1% | B− |
| 2,122 | Lindsborg KS | 3,824 | $81K | 6.8% | 4.6% | 29% | B− |
| 2,123 | Golf Manor OH | 3,810 | $45K | 13.6% | 2.6% | 2% | B− |
| 2,124 | Black River Falls WI | 3,555 | $67K | 9.9% | 1.4% | 29% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | 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 Lindsborg, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
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 Lindsborg: questions
What is the median household income in Lindsborg?
$81,250 (±$14,235) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lindsborg?
6.8%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lindsborg?
16 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lindsborg work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Salina (22%, 17 mi), McPherson (11%, 14 mi), Wichita (7%, 64 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lindsborg walkable?
Lindsborg is more walkable than 81% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 15% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lindsborg without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lindsborg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lindsborg
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.