Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Henderson earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
18.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 16.1% across Kentucky. The two grades for Henderson are C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in three work in Henderson; the top destination outside it is Evansville (18%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Henderson
Jobs & income in Henderson: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Henderson is better than 39% of U.S. towns, #71 of 142 in Kentucky. Unemployment holds Henderson’s grade up (2.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($48,186, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Henderson could be anywhere from C to B−.
Where Henderson goes to work
Where Henderson clocks in
18% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Henderson
On a workday 7,938 residents head out to work, 3,842 work right here, and 7,554 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 (0.97 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 11,396 jobs based in Henderson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Henderson, 2013 → 2023: 12,900 → 11,396. 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 Henderson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Henderson, about 20 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Henderson workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,520 commuters (the 6% 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.
How far it is to work from Henderson
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Henderson
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Henderson is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #36 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Henderson near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 12,249 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). 9.7% of Henderson households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Henderson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Henderson is 1,184th of 1,544 U.S. towns of 19,000 to 38,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 471 | Jeffersontown KY | 29,193 | $82K | 6.5% | 2.8% | 12% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 681 | Independence KY | 30,198 | $102K | 8.8% | 4.3% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 766 | Florence KY | 34,018 | $71K | 9.5% | 3.1% | 17% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,182 | Lindenwold NJ | 21,952 | $56K | 21.1% | 4.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,183 | Bayou Cane LA | 21,253 | $74K | 16.0% | 5.0% | 19% | C+ |
| 1,184 | Henderson KY | 27,822 | $48K | 18.7% | 2.4% | 33% | C+ |
| 1,185 | Woodburn OR | 31,948 | $67K | 16.3% | 5.2% | 16% | C+ |
| 1,186 | Bartow FL | 23,617 | $68K | 18.1% | 4.4% | 20% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,544 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Henderson, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Around Henderson: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Henderson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henderson | – | C+ | A− | 20 min | $48,186 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Henderson’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 Henderson: questions
What is the median household income in Henderson?
$48,186 (±$2,523) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Henderson?
18.7%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Henderson?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Henderson work?
33% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Evansville (18%, 11 mi), Owensboro (4%, 26 mi), Patoka Township (2%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Henderson walkable?
Henderson is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Henderson without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Henderson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Henderson
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.