Masonic Temple · Photo: User:Smuckola · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Salina earn less than those in 71% of U.S. towns
13.0% of residents live below the poverty line, where Kansas as a whole has 11.3%. Jobs and income earn Salina C; getting around on foot earns it A. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.1 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 3.1 in Wichita.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Salina and work: the main findings
Most jobs in Salina go to people who live here
Of the 23,355 jobs based in Salina, 52% are held by Salina residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Salina are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kansas 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Salina
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salina is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #115 of 151 in Kansas. Job access by car holds Salina’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($61,783, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salina could be anywhere from C− to B−.
In and out of Salina on a workday
On a workday 7,675 residents head out to work, 12,175 work right here, and 11,180 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 (1.18 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.
Getting to work from Salina takes about 15 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Salina workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 21,523 commuters (the 7% 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.
Where Salina goes to work
Where Salina clocks in
3% of workers
2% 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.
The 23,355 jobs based in Salina
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salina, 2013 → 2023: 23,451 → 23,355. 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 Salina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Salina goes to work
About 21% 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.
Salina is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salina is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #5 of 151 in Kansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.5% 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 23,049 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 90% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 76% 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). 7.9% of Salina households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Salina’s commuters take a bus or train.
811th of 969: where Salina ranks among U.S. towns of 32,000 to 62,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Arlington OH | 35,893 | $155K | 3.3% | 2.0% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Lenexa KS | 60,506 | $103K | 5.4% | 2.8% | 17% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 675 | Leavenworth KS | 37,012 | $73K | 11.7% | 4.8% | 31% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 809 | Elyria OH | 53,634 | $55K | 16.7% | 5.6% | 20% | C |
| 810 | Socorro TX | 38,787 | $55K | 20.7% | 4.8% | 5% | C |
| 811 | Salina KS | 46,094 | $62K | 13.0% | 5.2% | 61% | C |
| 812 | Pocatello ID | 58,771 | $60K | 14.8% | 4.4% | 52% | C |
| 813 | Copperas Cove TX | 40,118 | $71K | 11.4% | 7.6% | 21% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Salina, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
Salina and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Smolan Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Salina workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salina | – | C | A | 15 min | $61,783 |
| Greeley Township | under 1% | — | — | 15 min | — |
| Smoky Hill Township | 1% | — | — | 14 min | — |
| Smolan Township | 4% | — | — | 15 min | — |
| Elm Creek Township | under 1% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Walnut Township | under 1% | — | — | — | — |
| Cambria Township | under 1% | — | — | 30 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Greeley Township, Smoky Hill Township, Smolan Township, Walnut Township and Cambria Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Elm Creek Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Salina’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 Salina: questions
What is the median household income in Salina?
$61,783 (±$2,913) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salina?
13.0%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salina?
15 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salina work?
61% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Smolan Township (4%, 6 mi), Wichita (3%, 79 mi), Manhattan (2%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salina walkable?
Salina is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.8 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salina without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Salina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salina
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.