Edwin Smith House · Photo: Lefibreguy · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Wellington trail those of 87% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Wellington itself; outside it, Wichita draws the most (23%, 29 miles). 16.4% of residents are in poverty; Kansas has 11.3%. For jobs and income Wellington is better than 17% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Wellington
Wellington’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Wellington is Wichita, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (719) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Most jobs in Wellington go to people who live here
Of the 2,440 jobs based in Wellington, 47% are held by Wellington residents. In most towns, people from elsewhere hold most of the local jobs. Day and night ↓
The quickest commute around
Wellington’s 17-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 21 to 39 minutes. Next door ↓
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.
Income, poverty and work: Wellington’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Wellington’s grade up (ahead of 51% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($50,333, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wellington could be anywhere from D to C.
The distance from Wellington to work
About 18% 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.
Who works in Wellington, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,016 residents head out to work, 1,139 work right here, and 1,301 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 (0.77 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 Wellington’s working residents head each day
Where Wellington clocks in
23% of workers
4% 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 2,440 jobs based in Wellington
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wellington, 2014 → 2024: 3,228 → 2,440. 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 Wellington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kansas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wellington workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,934 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.
Most of Wellington commutes by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.4% 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 3,107 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). 8.7% of Wellington households have no vehicle (Kansas 5.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wellington’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Wellington is 2,693rd of 3,071 U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,200
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Pleasant Township KS | 5,459 | $113K | 0.8% | 1.2% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 199 | Tecumseh Township KS | 7,829 | $110K | 2.7% | 1.2% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 251 | Eudora Township KS | 7,870 | $119K | 4.6% | 2.3% | 12% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,691 | Brush CO | 5,337 | $73K | 14.2% | 7.7% | 18% | C− |
| 2,692 | Alamosa CO | 9,849 | $50K | 15.9% | 4.4% | 41% | C− |
| 2,693 | Wellington KS | 7,541 | $50K | 16.4% | 7.0% | 36% | C− |
| 2,694 | McKees Rocks PA | 5,624 | $41K | 32.1% | 10.2% | 4% | C− |
| 2,695 | Buena Vista Township MI | 7,473 | $44K | 20.7% | 7.4% | 5% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,071 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Wellington, the top three, the last and three more from Kansas.
Work in the towns next to Wellington
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wellington workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wellington | – | C− | B | 17 min | $50,333 |
| Wellington Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Osborne Township | under 2% | — | — | 31 min | — |
| Downs Township | under 2% | — | — | 39 min | — |
| Avon Township | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Wellington Township, Osborne Township, Downs Township and Avon Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wellington’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 Wellington: questions
What is the median household income in Wellington?
$50,333 (±$3,911) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,275 across Kansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wellington?
16.4%, against 11.3% across Kansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wellington?
17 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Kansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wellington work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wichita (23%, 29 mi), Riverside Township (4%, 22 mi), Derby (2%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Wellington walkable?
Wellington is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wellington without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wellington, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wellington
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.