Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Households in Scott City have lower incomes than those in 81% of U.S. towns
2.8% of residents are in poverty (Kansas 11.3%). Jobs and income earn Scott City B−; getting around on foot earns it C. About two in five work in Scott City; the top destination outside it is Garden City (7%, 35 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Scott City
Most jobs in Scott City go to people who live here
Of the 1,323 jobs based in Scott City, 54% are held by Scott City residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Scott City are quick
The average trip to work takes 10 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 77 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Scott City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Scott City is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #93 of 151 in Kansas. The poverty rate holds Scott City’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Scott City could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The daily flow of workers through Scott City
On a workday 959 residents head out to work, 716 work right here, and 607 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 (0.79 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
About 10 minutes each way for Scott City’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Scott City workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,924 commuters (the 5% 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 the trip to work from Scott City ends
Where Scott City clocks in
7% of workers
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.
What work there is in Scott City: 1,323 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Scott City, 2014 → 2024: 1,500 → 1,323. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Scott City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Scott City commutes
About 22% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Scott City, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Scott City is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #110 of 151 in Kansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below 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 2,017 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.0% of Scott City households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Scott City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Scott City is 2,394th of 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Aubry Township KS | 4,719 | $134K | 0.7% | 1.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,392 | Bella Vista CA | 4,511 | $91K | 6.0% | 8.5% | 3% | B− |
| 2,393 | Newton IL | 2,715 | $62K | 11.1% | 1.3% | 21% | B− |
| 2,394 | Scott City KS | 3,855 | $55K | 2.8% | 3.5% | 43% | B− |
| 2,395 | Bluffton OH | 3,875 | $76K | 3.2% | 9.3% | 28% | B− |
| 2,396 | Pamelia NY | 3,238 | $67K | 10.4% | 2.7% | 6% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Scott City, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2024, 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 Scott City: questions
What is the median household income in Scott City?
$54,880 (±$23,073) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Scott City?
2.8%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Scott City?
10 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Scott City work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Garden City (7%, 35 mi), Garden City Township (3%, 30 mi), Wichita (2%, 201 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Scott City walkable?
Scott City is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Scott City 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 Scott City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Scott City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.