First Methodist Episcopal Church · Photo: Jon Roanhaus · CC BY-SA 4.0Stafford has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Stafford has 233 jobs, against 440 working residents. About one in five work in Stafford itself; outside it, Wichita draws the most (10%, 71 miles). Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers (Kansas 12%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Stafford
Stafford’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Stafford is Wichita, 71 miles away as the crow flies. 10% of working residents (46) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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 ↓
Few Stafford workers work from home
Only 1% 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 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 440 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Miles to work from Stafford
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.
From Stafford, about 15 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Stafford workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 316 commuters (the 1% 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.
Stafford on a workday afternoon
On a workday 359 residents head out to work, 81 work right here, and 152 people come in from elsewhere.
About 730 people are in Stafford on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Out of Stafford to work: where people go
Where Stafford clocks in
10% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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.
Stafford is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Stafford, 2014 → 2024: 288 → 233. 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 Stafford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Stafford: questions
What is the median household income in Stafford?
$42,266 (±$6,712) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Stafford?
15.6%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Stafford?
15 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Stafford work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wichita (10%, 71 mi), Great Bend (7%, 29 mi), Pratt (6%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Stafford without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Stafford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Stafford
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.