Loomis Historic District · Photo: Dlong417 · CC BY-SA 3.0Merriam has 2.0 jobs for every working resident: 11,649 people commute in to work
Jobs and income earn Merriam B+; getting around on foot earns it A−. Merriam has 11,972 jobs; 5,921 of its residents have a job. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 1.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 3.2 in Kansas City.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Merriam and work: the main findings
Merriam is where the jobs are
Merriam has 11,972 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 18,000 people are in town, 53% more than the 12,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Merriam and Overland Park trade workers both ways
Overland Park is the top workplace for Merriam residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Merriam come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Merriam’s working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 22 minutes, longer than the Kansas average of 20. Time on the road ↓
Most Merriam residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 8% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
A lot of Merriam works from home
20% of Merriam workers work from home, against 12% across Kansas. 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.
What’s behind Merriam’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Merriam is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #56 of 151 in Kansas. Job access by car holds Merriam’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Merriam could be anywhere from B− to A.
Merriam fills up on a workday
On a workday 5,598 residents head out to work and 323 work right here.
About 18,000 people are in Merriam on a workday afternoon, 53% more than live here.
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 people who work in Merriam live
Where Merriam clocks in
16% of workers
11% 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.
Merriam’s commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merriam workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,886 commuters (the 20% 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.
The distance from Merriam to work
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.
65% of the jobs in Merriam pay over $3,333 a month
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merriam, 2013 → 2023: 10,746 → 11,972. 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 Merriam’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Merriam, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Merriam is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns, #10 of 151 in Kansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 6,080 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 55% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 50% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.9% of Merriam households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Merriam’s commuters take a bus or train.
Merriam places 1,160th of 2,695 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 476 | Spring Hill KS | 10,777 | $112K | 7.7% | 2.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 497 | Attica Township KS | 9,068 | $94K | 3.7% | 2.8% | 10% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 560 | Mission Township KS | 10,195 | $122K | 4.5% | 3.3% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,158 | Wilton Manors FL | 11,655 | $85K | 11.4% | 4.3% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,159 | Waterboro ME | 8,219 | $89K | 6.0% | 2.8% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,160 | Merriam KS | 11,509 | $74K | 6.0% | 5.4% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,161 | Yarmouth ME | 9,062 | $110K | 10.2% | 4.4% | 16% | B+ |
| 1,162 | Hardyston Township NJ | 8,541 | $120K | 7.4% | 5.4% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Merriam, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
26% of Merriam works in a town next door
The biggest share goes to Overland Park (21%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Merriam workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merriam | – | B+ | A− | 22 min | $73,600 |
| Overland Park | 21% | A | B+ | 20 min | $104,834 |
| Shawnee | 5% | A | B− | 22 min | $109,940 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Merriam’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 Merriam: questions
What is the median household income in Merriam?
$73,600 (±$3,614) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merriam?
6.0%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merriam?
22 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Merriam work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Overland Park (21%, 9 mi), Kansas City (16%, 11 mi), Lenexa (11%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Merriam walkable?
Merriam is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 12.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Merriam without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 50% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Merriam, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merriam
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.