Work means Wichita for about half of Towanda’s working residents
The average commute takes 20 minutes each way, next to 20 for Kansas and 26 for the U.S. Towanda grades C+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Only 4% work in Towanda; the top destination outside it is Wichita (45%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Towanda apart
How Towanda earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Towanda is better than 40% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Towanda’s grade up (ahead of 63% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (2.4%) is left out: Towanda’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, Towanda could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Commuting out of Towanda: the destinations
Where Towanda clocks in
45% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Towanda
On a workday 638 residents head out to work, 27 work right here, and 463 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Towanda on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.74 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Towanda
490 jobs are based in Towanda.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Towanda, 2013 → 2023: 408 → 490. 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 Towanda’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Towanda
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Towanda workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 770 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Towanda
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.
For most of Towanda, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Towanda is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.6% 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 850 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). 1.6% of Towanda households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Towanda’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,664th of 5,877: where Towanda ranks among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Lake Quivira KS | 1,005 | $178K | 3.8% | 0.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 57 | Lexington Township KS | 1,512 | $135K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 73 | Westwood KS | 1,720 | $118K | 1.9% | 2.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,662 | Rome City IN | 1,317 | $71K | 11.8% | 4.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,663 | Oakland IA | 1,489 | $81K | 14.3% | 0.0% | 22% | C+ |
| 2,664 | Towanda KS | 1,426 | $64K | 13.5% | 2.4% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,665 | Houston PA | 1,126 | $65K | 20.0% | 3.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,666 | Washington Township IN | 1,864 | $75K | 12.8% | 8.3% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | 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 Towanda, 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 Towanda: questions
What is the median household income in Towanda?
$64,327 (±$11,801) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Towanda?
13.5%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Towanda?
20 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Towanda work?
4% work in town.
Is Towanda walkable?
Towanda is more walkable than 37% 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 Towanda without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Towanda, from the people who make the trip.
More of Towanda
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.