Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Smith Center trail those of 80% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Smith Center are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. 8.4% of residents are in poverty, against 11.3% across Kansas. 3% of workers have no commute at all, where Kansas as a whole has 12%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Smith Center
Fewer than half of Smith Center workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Smith Center’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Smith Center are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 20 across Kansas. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kansas worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Smith Center workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 12% across Kansas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 699 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Smith Center earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Smith Center is better than 18% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Smith Center’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down.
Unemployment (0.5%) is left out: Smith Center’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Smith Center could be anywhere from D to C.
What the 849 jobs in Smith Center are
849 jobs are based in Smith Center.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smith Center, 2013 → 2023: 842 → 849. 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 Smith Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Smith Center: about 12 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smith Center workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 758 commuters (the 3% 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 daily flow of workers through Smith Center
On a workday 346 residents head out to work, 353 work right here, and 496 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Smith Center on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 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 Smith Center goes to work
Where Smith Center clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Smith Center
About 27% 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.
Getting around Smith Center: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Smith Center is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Smith Center near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 778 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). 3.4% of Smith Center households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Smith Center’s commuters take a bus or train.
Smith Center is 4,156th of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Oxford Township KS | 2,058 | $163K | 1.9% | 2.1% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Lexington Township KS | 1,512 | $135K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 75 | Westwood KS | 1,720 | $118K | 1.9% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,154 | Roseland OH | 1,827 | $49K | 19.8% | 7.9% | 0% | C− |
| 4,155 | Warsaw IL | 1,436 | $59K | 11.8% | 14.6% | 9% | C− |
| 4,156 | Smith Center KS | 1,575 | $56K | 8.4% | 0.5% | 51% | C− |
| 4,157 | St. Francisville LA | 1,484 | $57K | 27.0% | 5.8% | 19% | C− |
| 4,158 | Ralls TX | 1,556 | $58K | 15.7% | 12.1% | 12% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Smith Center, 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 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 Smith Center: questions
What is the median household income in Smith Center?
$56,007 (±$3,122) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smith Center?
8.4%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smith Center?
12 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smith Center work?
51% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wichita (3%, 164 mi), Hays (3%, 68 mi), Kensington (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Smith Center walkable?
Smith Center is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Smith Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Smith Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smith Center
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.