John R. Wright House · Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0McPherson has lower unemployment (1.9%) than 86% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers (Kansas 12%). Jobs and income earn McPherson B; getting around on foot earns it A−. About two in five work in McPherson; the top destination outside it is McPherson Township (15%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in McPherson
Inside McPherson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, McPherson is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #72 of 151 in Kansas. Unemployment holds McPherson’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (13.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, McPherson could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
About 11 minutes to work from McPherson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of McPherson workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,225 commuters (the 5% 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.
In and out of McPherson on a workday
On a workday 3,725 residents head out to work, 2,525 work right here, and 4,198 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 (1.08 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 McPherson work
Where McPherson clocks in
15% 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.
What work there is in McPherson: 6,723 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in McPherson, 2013 → 2023: 7,102 → 6,723. 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 McPherson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far McPherson’s workers travel
About 16% 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 McPherson, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, McPherson is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #27 of 151 in Kansas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across Kansas, on an EPA index of 7.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,609 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). 4.2% of McPherson households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of McPherson’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,253rd of 2,227: where McPherson ranks among U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 360 | Andover KS | 17,370 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 407 | Spring Hill KS | 10,777 | $112K | 7.7% | 2.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 481 | Mission Township KS | 10,195 | $122K | 4.5% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,251 | Wood River IL | 10,224 | $63K | 13.9% | 2.9% | 7% | B |
| 1,252 | Pleasant Hill IA | 11,239 | $91K | 8.9% | 8.2% | 3% | B |
| 1,253 | McPherson KS | 13,918 | $78K | 13.5% | 1.9% | 40% | B |
| 1,254 | Salida CA | 13,900 | $95K | 8.2% | 8.9% | 4% | B |
| 1,255 | Rifle CO | 10,844 | $80K | 6.0% | 3.0% | 16% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | 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 McPherson, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
20% of McPherson works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | McPherson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McPherson | – | B | A− | 11 min | $77,529 |
| McPherson Township | 15% | — | — | 12 min | — |
| King City Township | 5% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Jackson Township | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. McPherson Township, King City Township and Jackson Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to McPherson Township. Darker towns draw more of McPherson’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 McPherson: questions
What is the median household income in McPherson?
$77,529 (±$9,882) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in McPherson?
13.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from McPherson?
11 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in McPherson work?
40% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are McPherson Township (15%, 2 mi), Wichita (7%, 50 mi), King City Township (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is McPherson walkable?
McPherson is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around McPherson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from McPherson, from the people who make the trip.
More of McPherson
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.