Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Cumberland earn less than those in 98% of U.S. towns
52.9% of residents are in poverty, next to 16.1% for Kentucky as a whole. For jobs and income Cumberland is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (B+). About one in ten stay in Cumberland for work; outside it, Lexington is the main destination (5%, 108 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Cumberland
Fewer jobs are based in Cumberland than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Cumberland fell from 843 in 2013 to 407 in 2023, −52%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% 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 ↓
Many jobs in Cumberland pay little
28% of the jobs based in Cumberland pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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 458 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Cumberland’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Cumberland is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Cumberland’s grade.
Unemployment (30.1%) is left out: Cumberland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cumberland stays D−.
The kinds of work in Cumberland
407 jobs are based in Cumberland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cumberland, 2013 → 2023: 843 → 407. 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 Cumberland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Cumberland
About 36% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 411 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 360 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 (0.89 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.
Where Cumberland goes to work
Where Cumberland clocks in
4% 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.
Getting to work from Cumberland takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cumberland workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 290 commuters (the 11% 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.
Few in Cumberland walk, bike or ride to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 327 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). 13.2% of Cumberland households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Cumberland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Cumberland sits among U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 36 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Coldstream KY | 1,325 | $109K | 2.8% | 0.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 6,031 | Fern Acres HI | 1,480 | $40K | 27.4% | 6.8% | 1% | D− |
| 6,032 | Eudora AR | 1,511 | $29K | 28.1% | 8.5% | 37% | D− |
| 6,033 | Cumberland KY | 1,761 | $35K | 52.9% | 30.1% | 10% | D− |
| 6,034 | Hollandale MS | 2,090 | $26K | 39.4% | 9.5% | 20% | D− |
| 6,035 | Rosedale MS | 1,423 | $19K | 57.5% | 22.3% | 12% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Cumberland, 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 Cumberland: questions
What is the median household income in Cumberland?
$35,410 (±$16,433) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cumberland?
52.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cumberland?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cumberland work?
10% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lexington (5%, 108 mi), Hazard (4%, 22 mi), Harlan (4%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cumberland walkable?
Cumberland is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cumberland without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cumberland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cumberland
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.