Thomas Chapel C.M.E. Church · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Hickman have lower incomes than those in 98% of U.S. towns
Hickman grades D− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Below the poverty line: 31.6% of residents (Kentucky 16.1%). About one in five work in Hickman itself; outside it, Union City draws the most (14%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Hickman apart on work
Fewer jobs are based in Hickman than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Hickman fell from 722 in 2013 to 485 in 2023, −33%. 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 ↓
The jobs in Hickman pay better than its residents’ jobs
59% of the jobs based in Hickman pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 42% of the jobs Hickman residents hold. 68% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Hickman. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Hickman 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 ↓
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; with 696 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Hickman’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Hickman is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Hickman’s grade.
Unemployment (9.0%) is left out: Hickman’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Hickman stays D−.
Jobs in Hickman: what the 485 are
485 jobs are based in Hickman.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hickman, 2013 → 2023: 722 → 485. 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 Hickman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Hickman: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hickman workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 549 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who commutes out of Hickman, and who commutes in
On a workday 543 residents head out to work, 153 work right here, and 332 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.
0.70 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.
Where Hickman goes to work
Where Hickman clocks in
14% of workers
4% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Hickman
About 27% 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.
For most of Hickman, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hickman is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 6.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 574 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). 25.4% of Hickman households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hickman’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Hickman sits among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 16 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,988 | Portola CA | 2,024 | $44K | 22.3% | 12.4% | 18% | D− |
| 4,989 | Bowling Green FL | 2,448 | $45K | 29.0% | 9.8% | 4% | D− |
| 4,990 | Hickman KY | 2,258 | $35K | 31.6% | 9.0% | 22% | D− |
| 4,991 | Moriarty NM | 2,074 | $32K | 36.7% | 11.6% | 14% | D− |
| 4,992 | Whitehall NY | 2,479 | $48K | 29.4% | 14.0% | 5% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Hickman, 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 Hickman: questions
What is the median household income in Hickman?
$34,653 (±$14,538) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hickman?
31.6%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hickman?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hickman work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Union City (14%, 12 mi), Fulton (4%, 17 mi), Clinton (3%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Hickman walkable?
Hickman is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hickman without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 25% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hickman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hickman
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.