Photo: Mark Michalovic · CC BY-SA 3.0Manhattan draws more than half of St. George’s working residents
Hardly any work in St. George itself; outside it, Manhattan draws the most (52%, 10 miles). Jobs and income earn St. George B+; getting around on foot earns it C. Household incomes here are higher than in 78% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in St. George: the figures worth knowing
More than half of St. George works in Manhattan
253 working residents, 52%, have their main job in Manhattan, 10 miles away. That’s far more as work in St. George itself. The commute map ↓
St. George is a place people come home to
There are 33 jobs based in St. George, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday St. George has about 710 people in it, 39% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of St. George’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 28 minutes, longer than the Kansas average of 20. 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 485 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind St. George’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, St. George is better than 70% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds St. George’s grade up (5.3%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (1.1%) is left out: St. George’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. George could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where St. George goes to work
Where St. George clocks in
52% of workers
8% 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.
A workday in St. George: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 485 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 33 people come in from elsewhere.
About 710 people are in St. George on a workday afternoon, 39% fewer than live here.
0.07 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The trip to work from St. George: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of St. George workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 527 commuters (the 6% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in St. George
33 jobs are based in St. George.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in St. George, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 33. 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 St. George’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from St. George
About 16% 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.
Driving is how St. George gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, St. George is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.4% across Kansas, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 562 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). 3.0% of St. George households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of St. George’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, St. George is 702nd among 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | 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% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Lake Quivira KS | 1,005 | $178K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Lexington Township KS | 1,512 | $135K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Delaware Township KS | 1,121 | $119K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 700 | Elsinboro Township NJ | 1,037 | $90K | 9.2% | 5.1% | 2% | B+ |
| 701 | Navarre Beach FL | 1,558 | $130K | 3.5% | 2.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 702 | St. George KS | 1,165 | $101K | 5.3% | 1.1% | 0% | B+ |
| 703 | Liberty UT | 1,484 | $107K | 4.0% | 1.5% | 1% | B+ |
| 704 | Downs IL | 1,173 | $111K | 10.8% | 1.7% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 St. George, 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 St. George: questions
What is the median household income in St. George?
$100,956 (±$11,684) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in St. George?
5.3%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from St. George?
28 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in St. George work?
0% work in town.
Is St. George walkable?
St. George is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around St. George 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. George, from the people who make the trip.
More of St. George
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.