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Jobs & commute in Crab Orchard

Most of Crab Orchard commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident

The average commute takes 30 minutes each way, where Kentucky has 24 and the U.S. 26. Crab Orchard has 78 jobs; 227 of its residents have a job. Only 2% work in Crab Orchard itself; outside it, Lexington draws the most (11%, 40 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

What stands out · In brief

Crab Orchard and work: the main findings

Crab Orchard’s biggest commute is a long one

The top workplace outside Crab Orchard is Lexington, 40 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (24) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓

A big share show a job far from home

30% 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 ↓

Crab Orchard workers spend longer getting to work

The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 24 across Kentucky. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓

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; with 227 working residents, small shifts move the shares.

★ What stands out · How far

Crab Orchard’s commute, mile by mile

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miLexington: 11% · 40 miDanville: 10% · 19.1 miStanford: 9% · 9.5 miMount Vernon: 4% · 12 miNicholasville: 4% · 29.8 miHarrodsburg: 3% · 28.2 miSomerset: 3% · 26.5 miLancaster: 2% · 11.1 miSt. Matthews: 2% · 82.2 miLexington 11%Danville 10%Stanford 9%Mount Vernon 4%Nicholasville 4%Crab Orchard
Crab OrchardTop destinations (size = commuters)
11%Under 10 mi25 residents
31%10–24 mi70 residents
28%25–50 mi64 residents
30%Over 50 mi67 residents

About 30% 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.

Time on the road

From Crab Orchard, about 30 minutes to the job

A year of commuting
226 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Crab Orchard30 min
Kentucky24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
8%

of Crab Orchard workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Crab Orchard gets to work
89%Drive alone
11%Carpool

Share of the 198 commuters (the 7% 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.

Day and night

In and out of Crab Orchard on a workday

On a workday 222 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 73 people come in from elsewhere.

222live here, work elsewhere
5live and work here
73work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night770
Workday620
770live here− 220head out to work+ 73come in to work= 620on a workday

About 620 people are in Crab Orchard on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.34jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.

The commute map

The towns that employ Crab Orchard’s residents

NorthfieldMidwayBrodheadCrab OrchardLibertyJunction CityLancaster: 4 residents work here (2%)Mount Vernon: 9 residents work here (4%)St. Matthews: 4 residents work here (2%)Stanford: 21 residents work here (9%)West LibertyMiddlesboroughHarrodsburg: 6 residents work here (3%)GeorgetownDanville: 22 residents work here (10%)Nicholasville: 9 residents work here (4%)Somerset: 6 residents work here (3%)Lexington: 24 residents work here (11%)LexingtonDanvilleStanfordMount VernonNicholasvilleHarrodsburgCrab Orchard
1
Lexington40 mi away
11%24
2
Danville19.1 mi away
10%22
3
Stanford9.5 mi away
9%21
4
Mount Vernon12 mi away
4%9
5
Nicholasville29.8 mi away
4%9
6
Harrodsburg28.2 mi away
3%6
7
Somerset26.5 mi away
3%6
8
Crab Orchard (in town)right here
2%5
9
Lancaster11.1 mi away
2%4
10
St. Matthews82.2 mi away
2%4
Everywhere elseother towns and states
52%117
The top trips

Where Crab Orchard clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

What Crab Orchard’s employers do

Jobs based in Crab OrchardJobs Crab Orchard residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%22%
Trade, transport & utilities59%19%
Services: health, schools, offices41%59%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less32%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month36%28%
Over $3,333 a month32%57%

Who does it

29 or younger17%26%
30 to 5455%58%
55 and older28%16%
+10%

Jobs based in Crab Orchard, 2014 → 2024: 71 → 78. 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 Crab Orchard’s own residents hold wherever they work.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Crab Orchard: questions

What is the median household income in Crab Orchard?

$34,632 (±$5,890) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Crab Orchard?

24.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Crab Orchard?

30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Crab Orchard work?

2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lexington (11%, 40 mi), Danville (10%, 19 mi), Stanford (9%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).

Can you get around Crab Orchard without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Crab Orchard, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Crab Orchard

Crab Orchard home →

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.