Households in Farley have lower incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
30.8% of residents live below the poverty line; Kentucky has 16.1%. For jobs and income Farley is better than 23% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (C). The trip to work takes 17 minutes on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Farley apart
Nearly half of Farley works in Paducah
830 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Paducah, 4.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 12 times as many as work in Farley itself. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
47% of the jobs in Farley are in trade, transport and utilities, against 26% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Farley are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Farley residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Farley workers earn over $40,000 a year
43% of Farley’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
Farley’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Unemployment holds Farley’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Farley could be anywhere from D to C+.
48% of working residents work in Paducah
Where Farley clocks in
48% 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.
Inside Farley’s 849 jobs
849 jobs are based in Farley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Farley, 2013 → 2023: 818 → 849. 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 Farley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kentucky
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Farley workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,518 commuters (the 10% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Farley
About 17% 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.
Farley quiets down on a workday
On a workday 1,651 residents head out to work, 63 work right here, and 786 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,600 people are in Farley on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.
0.50 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.
In Farley, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 5.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,691 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). 4.0% of Farley households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Farley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Farley next to U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000: 3,163rd of 4,000 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 298 | Prospect KY | 4,705 | $163K | 2.4% | 4.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 400 | Hurstbourne KY | 4,787 | $116K | 5.5% | 3.6% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,161 | Manistee Township MI | 4,268 | $65K | 10.2% | 5.4% | 23% | C− |
| 3,162 | Chandler TX | 4,081 | $50K | 14.0% | 6.7% | 5% | C− |
| 3,163 | Farley KY | 4,458 | $47K | 30.8% | 3.9% | 4% | C− |
| 3,164 | Sheridan AR | 5,406 | $62K | 19.9% | 5.9% | 24% | C− |
| 3,165 | Guyton GA | 3,247 | $86K | 14.7% | 13.6% | 1% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | 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 Farley, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
48% of Farley works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Paducah. Darker towns draw more of Farley’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 Farley: questions
What is the median household income in Farley?
$47,292 (±$7,795) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Farley?
30.8%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Farley?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Farley work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paducah (48%, 4 mi), Calvert City (4%, 10 mi), Mayfield (2%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Farley walkable?
Farley is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Farley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Farley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Farley
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.