Photo: RandyBlankenshipp · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Erlanger, KY
Working from home is the commute for 17% of workers, next to 10% for Kentucky as a whole. The two grades for Erlanger are B for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 6% work in Erlanger; the top destination outside it is Florence (11%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Erlanger, in brief
Erlanger trades workers with the towns around it
Erlanger has about as many jobs (10,868) as working residents (9,537), but they are mostly different people: 8,983 residents leave for work each day while 10,314 people come in. Only 5% of the jobs in Erlanger are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Erlanger workers cross into Ohio
19% of Erlanger workers work outside Kentucky, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Cincinnati (10%) is one of the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
Erlanger draws workers from far and wide
The 10,868 jobs in Erlanger are filled from a wide area. Erlanger’s own residents hold 5% and the ten next-biggest home towns 31%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Most Erlanger residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Erlanger has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Erlanger went from 7,739 in 2013 to 10,868 in 2023, +40%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Erlanger’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Erlanger is better than 57% of U.S. towns, #50 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Erlanger’s grade up (ahead of 85% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Erlanger could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Who commutes out of Erlanger, and who commutes in
On a workday 8,983 residents head out to work, 554 work right here, and 10,314 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 (1.14 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.
The towns that employ Erlanger’s residents
Where Erlanger clocks in
11% of workers
10% of workers
5% 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.
Erlanger’s commute, mile by mile
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.
What work there is in Erlanger: 10,868 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Erlanger, 2013 → 2023: 7,739 → 10,868. 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 Erlanger’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Erlanger: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Erlanger workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,526 commuters (the 17% 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 Erlanger walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Erlanger is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #63 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of 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 10,252 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 30% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 69% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.6% of Erlanger households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Erlanger’s commuters take a bus or train.
Erlanger next to U.S. towns of 14,000 to 27,000: 1,095th of 1,860 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 289 | Burlington KY | 18,008 | $109K | 5.5% | 2.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 437 | Fort Thomas KY | 17,142 | $104K | 6.1% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 694 | Mount Washington KY | 18,989 | $96K | 5.3% | 4.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,093 | Rockton Township IL | 16,144 | $77K | 9.4% | 4.7% | 10% | B |
| 1,094 | West Puente Valley CA | 22,495 | $88K | 13.2% | 6.8% | 2% | B |
| 1,095 | Erlanger KY | 20,158 | $76K | 13.7% | 4.3% | 6% | B |
| 1,096 | Ridgeland MS | 24,750 | $66K | 9.9% | 4.1% | 17% | B |
| 1,097 | Belton MO | 26,193 | $69K | 9.7% | 4.8% | 10% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,860 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Erlanger, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Work next door: 21% of Erlanger’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Erlanger workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erlanger | – | B | B | 21 min | $75,840 |
| Crescent Springs | under 2% | B | C | 20 min | $83,066 |
| Independence | 2% | B+ | C | 27 min | $102,361 |
| Villa Hills | under 2% | A | C+ | 22 min | $107,859 |
| Edgewood | 3% | A+ | B+ | 20 min | $119,028 |
| Elsmere | under 2% | C+ | C+ | 18 min | $60,503 |
| Covington | 5% | C+ | A | 22 min | $61,166 |
| Florence | 11% | B+ | B | 23 min | $71,003 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Florence. Darker towns draw more of Erlanger’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Erlanger: questions
What is the median household income in Erlanger?
$75,840 (±$8,552) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Erlanger?
13.7%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Erlanger?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Erlanger work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Florence (11%, 4 mi), Cincinnati (10%, 9 mi), Covington (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Erlanger walkable?
Erlanger is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Erlanger without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Erlanger, from the people who make the trip.
More of Erlanger
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.