Photo: Dylan Edwards · CC BY-SA 4.0Meriden at work: jobs, income and the commute
The average commute takes 22 minutes each way, where Kansas has 20 and the U.S. 26. For 1% of workers, the job is at home; Kansas has 12%. Only 1% stay in Meriden for work; outside it, Topeka is the main destination (39%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Meriden apart on work
Meriden and Topeka trade workers both ways
Topeka is the top workplace for Meriden residents (39%) and also where the most people who work in Meriden come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Few Meriden workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 12% across Kansas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 344 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Commuting out of Meriden: the destinations
Where Meriden clocks in
39% of workers
8% 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.
Commuting from Meriden: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Meriden workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 390 commuters (the 1% 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 Meriden, and who commutes in
On a workday 339 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 257 people come in from elsewhere.
About 630 people are in Meriden on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 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.
Goods jobs make up 74% of work in Meriden
262 jobs are based in Meriden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Meriden, 2013 → 2023: 343 → 262. 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 Meriden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Meriden
About 18% 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.
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 Meriden: questions
What is the median household income in Meriden?
$76,667 (±$5,964) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Meriden?
6.1%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Meriden?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Meriden work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Topeka (39%, 13 mi), Lawrence (8%, 23 mi), Rock Creek Township (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Meriden 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 Meriden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Meriden
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.