Photo: Nyttend · Public domainEarning a living in Cunningham
Only 3% work in Cunningham itself; outside it, Paducah draws the most (25%, 17 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 23 minutes, next to 24 for Kentucky and 26 for the U.S. Cunningham has 66 jobs, and 112 of its residents work somewhere.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who leaves Cunningham for work, and who comes in
On a workday 109 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 63 people come in from elsewhere.
About 220 people are in Cunningham on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.59 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The places Cunningham commutes to
Where Cunningham clocks in
25% of workers
4% of workers
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.
In Cunningham, 73% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cunningham, 2013 → 2023: 21 → 66. 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 Cunningham’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Cunningham takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cunningham workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 79 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.
The commute from Cunningham, by distance
About 18% 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.
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 Cunningham: questions
What is the median household income in Cunningham?
$29,500 (±$19,658) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cunningham?
9.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cunningham?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cunningham work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paducah (25%, 17 mi), Mayfield (4%, 18 mi), Kevil (2%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Cunningham 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 Cunningham, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cunningham
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.