Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Carrollton have lower incomes than those in 92% of U.S. towns
0% of workers work from home, where Kentucky as a whole has 10%. 22.8% of residents are in poverty; Kentucky has 16.1%. Carrollton grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Carrollton, in a few figures
Carrollton trades workers with the towns around it
Carrollton has about as many jobs (1,539) as working residents (1,553), but they are mostly different people: 1,285 residents leave for work each day while 1,271 people come in. Only 17% of the jobs in Carrollton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Few Carrollton 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 ↓
Commutes from Carrollton are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. 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.
The four measures behind Carrollton’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carrollton is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #124 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Carrollton’s grade up (ahead of 35% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($45,871, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carrollton could be anywhere from D− to C+.
How many people are in Carrollton by day
On a workday 1,285 residents head out to work, 268 work right here, and 1,271 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 (0.99 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.
About 19 minutes to work from Carrollton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carrollton workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,381 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.
Where Carrollton goes to work
Where Carrollton clocks in
2% 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.
What the 1,539 jobs in Carrollton are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carrollton, 2013 → 2023: 1,976 → 1,539. 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 Carrollton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Short hops and long hauls from Carrollton
About 16% 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 Carrollton commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carrollton is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns, #41 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Carrollton 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 1,381 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). 6.6% of Carrollton households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carrollton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Carrollton next to U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,400
| # | 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 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,828 | Summersville WV | 3,297 | $57K | 20.3% | 6.3% | 31% | D |
| 3,829 | Monon Township IN | 3,382 | $49K | 18.6% | 5.8% | 18% | D |
| 3,830 | Carrollton KY | 3,964 | $46K | 22.8% | 6.5% | 17% | D |
| 3,831 | Madill OK | 4,181 | $48K | 19.9% | 6.4% | 25% | D |
| 3,832 | Madawaska ME | 3,846 | $57K | 13.0% | 7.4% | 54% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,177 | 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 Carrollton, 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 Carrollton: questions
What is the median household income in Carrollton?
$45,871 (±$12,108) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carrollton?
22.8%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carrollton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carrollton work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lexington (3%, 58 mi), Florence (2%, 35 mi), Louisville (2%, 43 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carrollton walkable?
Carrollton is more walkable than 73% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carrollton 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 Carrollton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carrollton
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.