Buckner’s household incomes are higher than in 97% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Buckner; the top destination outside it is Louisville (19%, 18 miles). Buckner grades A+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. 19% of workers have no commute at all, where Kentucky as a whole has 10%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Buckner in brief
Buckner has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Buckner went from 1,983 in 2013 to 3,751 in 2023, +89%. The jobs ↓
Buckner is where the jobs are
Buckner has 3,751 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Buckner and Louisville trade workers both ways
Louisville is the top workplace for Buckner residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Buckner come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Buckner
19% of Buckner workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Buckner’s workers comes from Louisville
534 of the people who work in Buckner live in Louisville, 18 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Buckner’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Buckner is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #5 of 142 in Kentucky. The poverty rate is its strongest input (0.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Buckner could be anywhere from A to A+.
67% of the jobs in Buckner pay over $3,333 a month
3,751 jobs are based in Buckner.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Buckner, 2013 → 2023: 1,983 → 3,751. 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 Buckner’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Buckner
On a workday 2,067 residents head out to work, 218 work right here, and 3,533 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,600 people are in Buckner on a workday afternoon, 36% more than live here.
1.6 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.
Commuting in to Buckner: where workers come from
Where Buckner clocks in
5% 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.
About 25 minutes each way for Buckner’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Buckner workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,625 commuters (the 19% 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.
How far Buckner’s workers travel
About 15% 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.
Most of Buckner commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Buckner is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #132 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 2,011 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). 0.0% of Buckner households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Buckner’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Buckner is 91st of 4,112 U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Thornbury Township PA | 3,165 | $172K | 2.4% | 2.5% | 4% | A+ |
| 90 | Grandwood Park IL | 5,262 | $127K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 91 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| 92 | Isle of Palms SC | 4,377 | $157K | 2.5% | 1.3% | 13% | A+ |
| 93 | Milan Township IN | 4,066 | $120K | 1.3% | 0.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 290 | Prospect KY | 4,705 | $163K | 2.4% | 4.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 392 | Hurstbourne KY | 4,787 | $116K | 5.5% | 3.6% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | 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 Buckner, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
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 Buckner: questions
What is the median household income in Buckner?
$164,219 (±$14,963) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Buckner?
0.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Buckner?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Buckner work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (19%, 18 mi), La Grange (5%, 4 mi), Jeffersontown (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Buckner walkable?
Buckner is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Buckner without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Buckner, from the people who make the trip.
More of Buckner
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.