Overbrook has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Working residents average 27 minutes each way; Kansas averages 20, the U.S. 26. Employers in Overbrook report 249 jobs, and 459 of its residents work somewhere. Only 5% work in Overbrook; the top destination outside it is Topeka (33%, 19 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Overbrook at work: what stands out
One in three of Overbrook works in Topeka
153 working residents, 33%, have their main job in Topeka, 19 miles away. That’s 7 times as many as work in Overbrook itself. The commute map ↓
Overbrook workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 27 minutes each way, against 20 across Kansas. Over a year that’s about 207 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. 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 459 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Overbrook goes to work
Where Overbrook clocks in
33% of workers
8% 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.
Overbrook’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Overbrook workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 445 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.
How a workday changes Overbrook
On a workday 435 residents head out to work, 24 work right here, and 225 people come in from elsewhere.
About 780 people are in Overbrook on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer 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.
The kinds of work in Overbrook
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Overbrook, 2013 → 2023: 263 → 249. 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 Overbrook’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Overbrook
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 Overbrook: questions
What is the median household income in Overbrook?
$68,958 (±$6,323) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Overbrook?
6.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Overbrook?
27 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Overbrook work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Topeka (33%, 19 mi), Lawrence (8%, 20 mi), Ridgeway Township (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Overbrook without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Overbrook, from the people who make the trip.
More of Overbrook
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.