Photo: Augustaky · CC BY-SA 3.0Augusta’s household incomes are lower than in 86% of U.S. towns
About one in five work in Augusta itself; outside it, Maysville draws the most (15%, 14 miles). Below the poverty line: 24.1% of residents, against 16.1% across Kentucky. Jobs and income earn Augusta D−; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Augusta: the figures worth knowing
Augusta and Maysville trade workers both ways
Maysville is the top workplace for Augusta residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Augusta come from (15% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Augusta makes and builds things
62% of the jobs based in Augusta are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Augusta residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 25%. The jobs ↓
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 ↓
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; with 331 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Augusta’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Augusta is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Augusta’s grade.
Unemployment (6.9%) is left out: Augusta’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, Augusta could be anywhere from D− to D.
Where the people who work in Augusta live
Where Augusta clocks in
15% of workers
5% 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, not services: 62% of the jobs in Augusta
497 jobs are based in Augusta.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Augusta, 2013 → 2023: 519 → 497. 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 Augusta’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Augusta to work
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Augusta on a workday afternoon
On a workday 273 residents head out to work, 58 work right here, and 439 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Augusta on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
About 26 minutes each way for Augusta’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Augusta workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 601 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Kentucky: 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.
For most of Augusta, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Augusta is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 636 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). 8.2% of Augusta households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Augusta’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Augusta sits among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 43 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Coldstream KY | 1,325 | $109K | 2.8% | 0.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Heritage Creek KY | 1,244 | $100K | 2.4% | 1.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,517 | Fairlea WV | 1,312 | $24K | 27.6% | 2.4% | 9% | D− |
| 3,518 | Tombstone AZ | 1,376 | $35K | 15.5% | 0.8% | 36% | D− |
| 3,519 | Augusta KY | 1,099 | $51K | 24.1% | 6.9% | 18% | D− |
| 3,520 | Little Valley NY | 1,077 | $45K | 28.2% | 1.4% | 14% | D− |
| 3,521 | Snyder OK | 1,214 | $41K | 22.7% | 2.6% | 12% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Augusta, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
How Augusta compares with the towns next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Augusta workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Augusta | – | D− | B | 26 min | $51,250 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Augusta’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 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 Augusta: questions
What is the median household income in Augusta?
$51,250 (±$16,118) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Augusta?
24.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Augusta?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Augusta work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Maysville (15%, 14 mi), Lexington (7%, 56 mi), Brooksville (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Augusta walkable?
Augusta is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Augusta without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Augusta, from the people who make the trip.
More of Augusta
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.