Sawyer at work: jobs, income and the commute
Only 3% work in Sawyer itself; outside it, Pratt draws the most (30%, 15 miles). 0% of workers work from home, where Kansas as a whole has 12%. Working residents average 14 minutes each way, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 32 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 37 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 (1.15 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 the trip to work from Sawyer ends
Where Sawyer clocks in
30% of workers
12% of workers
9% 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.
66% of the jobs in Sawyer pay over $3,333 a month
38 jobs are based in Sawyer.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sawyer, 2013 → 2023: 179 → 38. 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 Sawyer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 14 minutes from Sawyer
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sawyer workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 32 commuters (the 0% 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 in the region Sawyer works
About 52% 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 Sawyer: questions
What is the median household income in Sawyer?
$39,792 (±$18,403) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sawyer?
6.6%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sawyer?
14 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sawyer work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pratt (30%, 15 mi), Wichita (12%, 74 mi), Great Bend (9%, 60 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sawyer without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sawyer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sawyer
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.