Photo: Brian Stansberry (photographer) · CC BY 4.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Bardwell
Working residents average 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home (Kentucky 10%). About one in ten work in Bardwell itself; outside it, Paducah draws the most (16%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Bardwell apart
Bardwell’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bardwell is Paducah, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (46) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Bardwell workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Kentucky. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Bardwell workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 293 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How far Bardwell’s workers travel
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.
Getting to work from Bardwell takes about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bardwell workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 253 commuters (the 0% 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.
Bardwell by day and by night
On a workday 262 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 269 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 (1.02 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The towns that employ Bardwell’s residents
Where Bardwell clocks in
16% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
300 jobs are based in Bardwell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bardwell, 2013 → 2023: 300 → 300. 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 Bardwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Bardwell: questions
What is the median household income in Bardwell?
$47,784 (±$15,682) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bardwell?
25.2%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bardwell?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bardwell work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paducah (16%, 24 mi), Mayfield (4%, 22 mi), Wickliffe (3%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bardwell 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 Bardwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bardwell
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.