Cassius and Adelia Baker House · Photo: PowercatPark · CC BY-SA 3.0Wamego has lower unemployment (1.6%) than 89% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 24 minutes each way, where Kansas has 20 and the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Wamego B+; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in four stay in Wamego for work; outside it, Manhattan is the main destination (25%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Wamego, in a few figures
Wamego trades workers with the towns around it
Wamego has about as many jobs (2,274) as working residents (2,204), but they are mostly different people: 1,697 residents leave for work each day while 1,767 people come in. Only 22% of the jobs in Wamego are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Wamego and Manhattan trade workers both ways
Manhattan is the top workplace for Wamego residents (25%) and also where the most people who work in Wamego come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Wamego’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wamego is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #47 of 151 in Kansas. Unemployment holds Wamego’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wamego could be anywhere from C+ to A.
The daily commute in and out of Wamego
On a workday 1,697 residents head out to work, 507 work right here, and 1,767 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 (1.03 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.
Where the trip to work from Wamego ends
Where Wamego clocks in
25% of workers
9% 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.
Goods jobs make up 32% of work in Wamego
2,274 jobs are based in Wamego.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wamego, 2014 → 2024: 2,435 → 2,274. 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 Wamego’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Wamego: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wamego workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,203 commuters (the 7% 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.
The distance from Wamego to work
About 17% 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.
The commute in Wamego is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wamego is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #43 of 151 in Kansas. Both inputs place Wamego 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 2,374 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). 1.7% of Wamego households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wamego’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Wamego ranks: 1,116th of 3,840 U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 38 | Fairway KS | 4,181 | $153K | 3.1% | 1.7% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Aubry Township KS | 4,719 | $134K | 0.7% | 1.2% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,114 | Delavan WI | 5,210 | $76K | 6.8% | 2.3% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,115 | Oneida WI | 4,568 | $77K | 10.2% | 1.9% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,116 | Wamego KS | 4,912 | $79K | 5.2% | 1.6% | 23% | B+ |
| 1,117 | Franklin Township OH | 6,347 | $64K | 23.0% | 4.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,118 | Camden DE | 4,176 | $63K | 5.3% | 1.5% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Wamego, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
Next door to Wamego
The biggest share goes to Wamego Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wamego workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wamego | – | B+ | B+ | 24 min | $78,809 |
| Wamego Township | 3% | A− | B | 28 min | $103,387 |
| Wabaunsee Township | under 2% | — | — | 23 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Wabaunsee Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wamego’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Wamego: questions
What is the median household income in Wamego?
$78,809 (±$29,839) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wamego?
5.2%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wamego?
24 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wamego work?
23% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manhattan (25%, 16 mi), Topeka (9%, 35 mi), Wamego Township (3%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wamego walkable?
Wamego is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wamego 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 Wamego, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wamego
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.