Grant County Courthouse District · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0At 0.9%, unemployment in Ulysses is lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
For 4% of workers, the job is at home (Kansas 12%). The two grades for Ulysses are B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. About two in five stay in Ulysses for work; outside it, Garden City is the main destination (6%, 39 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Ulysses in brief
Ulysses workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 20 across Kansas. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 115 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Most jobs in Ulysses go to people who live here
Of the 1,639 jobs based in Ulysses, 58% are held by Ulysses residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Ulysses
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ulysses is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #81 of 151 in Kansas. Unemployment holds Ulysses’ grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ulysses could be anywhere from C to B+.
The daily trip from Ulysses: about 35 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ulysses workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,394 commuters (the 4% 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.
Ulysses quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,387 residents head out to work, 953 work right here, and 686 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,800 people are in Ulysses on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
Where the trip to work from Ulysses ends
Where Ulysses clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workers
2% 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.
Jobs in Ulysses: what the 1,639 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ulysses, 2013 → 2023: 1,976 → 1,639. 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 Ulysses’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Ulysses
About 19% 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.
For most of Ulysses, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ulysses is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #72 of 151 in Kansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 2,506 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). 7.1% of Ulysses households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ulysses’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Ulysses ranks: 1,904th of 3,502 U.S. towns of 3,900 to 7,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 41 | Aubry Township KS | 4,719 | $134K | 0.7% | 1.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 132 | Pleasant Township KS | 5,459 | $113K | 0.8% | 1.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,902 | Scott Township PA | 5,652 | $85K | 6.3% | 7.1% | 7% | B− |
| 1,903 | North Manchester IN | 5,230 | $61K | 10.7% | 1.8% | 32% | B− |
| 1,904 | Ulysses KS | 5,524 | $64K | 7.6% | 0.9% | 41% | B− |
| 1,905 | District Heights MD | 5,938 | $87K | 17.6% | 6.8% | <1% | B− |
| 1,906 | Horseheads NY | 6,275 | $61K | 11.8% | 2.6% | 14% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,502 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Ulysses, 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 Ulysses: questions
What is the median household income in Ulysses?
$63,857 (±$8,768) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ulysses?
7.6%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ulysses?
35 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ulysses work?
41% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Garden City (6%, 39 mi), Hugoton (5%, 28 mi), Wichita (2%, 219 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ulysses walkable?
Ulysses is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ulysses without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ulysses, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ulysses
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.