Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as Jamestown’s
Household incomes here are among the lowest in the country. Below the poverty line: 44.4% of residents, where Kentucky as a whole has 16.1%. For jobs and income Jamestown is better than 3% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Jamestown, in a few figures
Jamestown is where the jobs are
Jamestown has 1,333 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Jamestown workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Jamestown’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% 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; with 713 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs & income in Jamestown: the grade in detail
Job access by car holds Jamestown’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($20,541, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (16.2%) is left out: Jamestown’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, Jamestown stays D−.
Jamestown fills up on a workday
On a workday 604 residents head out to work, 109 work right here, and 1,224 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Jamestown on a workday afternoon, 33% more than live here.
1.9 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.
The 1,333 jobs based in Jamestown
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jamestown, 2013 → 2023: 1,736 → 1,333. 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 Jamestown’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Jamestown
Where Jamestown clocks in
22% of workers
5% 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.
Commuting from Jamestown: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jamestown workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 389 commuters (the 7% 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 commute from Jamestown, by distance
About 25% 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.
Getting around Jamestown: mostly by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 418 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). 22.4% of Jamestown households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Jamestown’s commuters take a bus or train.
Jamestown next to U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 65 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 111 | Coldstream KY | 1,325 | $109K | 2.8% | 0.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,608 | Georgetown GA | 2,254 | $40K | 15.7% | 28.6% | 8% | D− |
| 5,609 | Liberty KY | 2,021 | $29K | 32.1% | 2.6% | 23% | D− |
| 5,610 | Jamestown KY | 1,901 | $21K | 44.4% | 16.2% | 15% | D− |
| 5,611 | Fosston MN | 1,383 | $53K | 25.6% | 10.0% | 27% | D− |
| 5,612 | Warsaw MO | 2,338 | $41K | 20.1% | 3.7% | 16% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Jamestown, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Bordering towns draw 22% of Jamestown’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jamestown workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamestown | – | D− | B | 23 min | $20,541 |
| Russell Springs | 22% | D− | C− | 15 min | $38,697 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Russell Springs. Darker towns draw more of Jamestown’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 Jamestown: questions
What is the median household income in Jamestown?
$20,541 (±$7,178) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jamestown?
44.4%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jamestown?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jamestown work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Russell Springs (22%, 4 mi), Somerset (5%, 26 mi), Columbia (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jamestown walkable?
Jamestown is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jamestown without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jamestown, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jamestown
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.