US Bullion Depository, Fort Knox, Kentucky · Photo: Work permit Original author=Cliff · CC BY-SA 4.0Few U.S. towns have unemployment as high as Fort Knox’s 15.1%
The average commute takes 12 minutes each way; Kentucky averages 24, the U.S. 26. Fort Knox grades C+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 8% stay in Fort Knox for work; outside it, Louisville is the main destination (8%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Fort Knox stands out on work
Commutes from Fort Knox are quick
The average trip to work takes 12 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 92 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Fort Knox is where the jobs are
Fort Knox has 2,071 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
44% 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 ↓
Fort Knox’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Fort Knox is Louisville, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (90) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Nearly all the work in Fort Knox is services
88% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 7% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
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.
How Fort Knox earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fort Knox is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #66 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Fort Knox’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fort Knox could be anywhere from C to B.
The trip to work from Fort Knox: about 12 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Knox workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,359 commuters (the 5% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Fort Knox
On a workday 1,054 residents head out to work, 91 work right here, and 1,980 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,800 people are in Fort Knox on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Miles to work from Fort Knox
About 44% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Fort Knox
2,071 jobs are based in Fort Knox.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Knox, 2014 → 2024: 1,709 → 2,071. 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 Fort Knox’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Fort Knox: where workers come from
Where Fort Knox clocks in
6% 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.
Driving is how Fort Knox gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fort Knox is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns, #58 of 142 in Kentucky. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 22.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 5.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,587 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). 4.3% of Fort Knox households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Fort Knox’s commuters take a bus or train.
1,891st of 2,878: where Fort Knox ranks among U.S. towns of 6,200 to 11,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Francisville KY | 10,565 | $159K | 1.7% | 1.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 182 | Oakbrook KY | 10,211 | $95K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,889 | Mount Pleasant IA | 8,500 | $61K | 15.7% | 1.7% | 42% | C+ |
| 1,890 | Lenox NY | 8,541 | $76K | 10.4% | 6.0% | 15% | C+ |
| 1,891 | Fort Knox KY | 8,836 | $83K | 9.0% | 15.1% | 8% | C+ |
| 1,892 | River Road OR | 8,862 | $82K | 14.5% | 7.0% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,893 | Center Township IN | 7,376 | $69K | 9.4% | 4.9% | 8% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Fort Knox, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
How Fort Knox compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Radcliff (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Fort Knox’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 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.
Jobs and commuting in Fort Knox: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Knox?
$82,663 (±$14,292) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Knox?
9.0%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Knox?
12 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Knox work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (8%, 27 mi), Lexington (8%, 83 mi), Elizabethtown (6%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Fort Knox walkable?
Fort Knox is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and 23% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fort Knox 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 Fort Knox, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Knox
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. 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.