Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes put Grayson near the very bottom of U.S. towns
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Below the poverty line: 37.9% of residents, where Kentucky as a whole has 16.1%. Grayson grades D− for jobs and income and A for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Grayson stands out on work
Grayson is where the jobs are
Grayson has 2,803 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 5,300 people are in town, 43% more than the 3,700 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Grayson than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Grayson fell from 3,734 in 2013 to 2,803 in 2023, −25%. 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 ↓
Few Grayson workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
The four measures behind Grayson’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grayson is better than 4% of U.S. towns, #133 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Grayson’s grade up (ahead of 33% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($27,542, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grayson could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Who works in Grayson, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 913 residents head out to work, 297 work right here, and 2,506 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,300 people are in Grayson on a workday afternoon, 43% more than live here.
2.3 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 2023, primary jobs.
Inside Grayson’s 2,803 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grayson, 2013 → 2023: 3,734 → 2,803. 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 Grayson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Grayson spends getting to work: 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 Grayson workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,294 commuters (the 3% 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.
Where Grayson’s workforce comes from
Where Grayson clocks in
11% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
The distance from Grayson to work
About 21% 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.
Grayson is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grayson is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns, #8 of 142 in Kentucky. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 19.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 8.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,331 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). 20.6% of Grayson households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grayson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Grayson sits among U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 91 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,152 | Onalaska TX | 3,289 | $52K | 23.7% | 9.4% | 5% | D− |
| 4,153 | Meigs Township OH | 3,811 | $60K | 21.8% | 8.6% | 10% | D− |
| 4,154 | Grayson KY | 3,728 | $28K | 37.9% | 7.6% | 25% | D− |
| 4,155 | Barnesville OH | 3,861 | $42K | 26.2% | 7.0% | 23% | D− |
| 4,156 | Brookside Township IL | 4,522 | $45K | 25.3% | 10.2% | 6% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Grayson, 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 Grayson: questions
What is the median household income in Grayson?
$27,542 (±$6,385) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grayson?
37.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grayson?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grayson work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ashland (11%, 18 mi), Huntington (4%, 28 mi), Morehead (3%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Grayson walkable?
Grayson is more walkable than 90% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 19% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grayson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grayson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grayson
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.