Cheyenne County Courthouse · Photo: Smallbones · Public domainHouseholds in St. Francis earn less than those in 88% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in St. Francis; the top destination outside it is Bird City (8%, 14 miles). 15.4% of residents live below the poverty line; Kansas has 11.3%. St. Francis grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in St. Francis: the gist
Commutes from St. Francis 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; with 457 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in St. Francis
On income, poverty and job access, St. Francis is better than 5% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds St. Francis’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 2% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.3%) is left out: St. Francis’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, St. Francis could be anywhere from D− to C−.
About 10 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kansas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. Francis workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 471 commuters (the 9% 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.
St. Francis’ commute, mile by mile
About 32% 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.
How a workday changes St. Francis
On a workday 294 residents head out to work, 163 work right here, and 302 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 (1.02 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.
The towns that employ St. Francis’ residents
Where St. Francis clocks in
Lines 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.
Jobs in St. Francis: what the 465 are
465 jobs are based in St. Francis.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. Francis, 2014 → 2024: 576 → 465. 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 St. Francis’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In St. Francis, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. Francis is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place St. Francis 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 517 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). 3.1% of St. Francis households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. Francis’ commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700, and where St. Francis sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | 1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Lake Quivira KS | 1,005 | $178K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Lexington Township KS | 1,512 | $135K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Delaware Township KS | 1,121 | $119K | 2.4% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,391 | Stearns KY | 1,271 | $56K | 33.2% | 7.3% | 8% | D |
| 4,392 | Butler AL | 1,698 | $47K | 16.5% | 1.8% | 20% | D |
| 4,393 | St. Francis KS | 1,265 | $50K | 15.4% | 3.3% | 36% | D |
| 4,394 | Hancock MD | 1,581 | $35K | 23.7% | 2.7% | 6% | D |
| 4,395 | Enosburg Falls VT | 1,329 | $51K | 19.4% | 3.7% | 9% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 St. Francis, 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 St. Francis: questions
What is the median household income in St. Francis?
$49,643 (±$9,330) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. Francis?
15.4%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. Francis?
10 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. Francis work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bird City (8%, 14 mi), Wano Township (7%, 3 mi), Goodland (5%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is St. Francis walkable?
St. Francis is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. Francis 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 St. Francis, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. Francis
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.