Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Junction City has lower household incomes than 92% of U.S. towns
At 24 minutes each way, commutes from Junction City run about the Kentucky average. 27.9% of residents live below the poverty line; Kentucky has 16.1%. Jobs and income earn Junction City D; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Junction City
Junction City is a place people come home to
There are 151 jobs based in Junction City, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Junction City has about 1,600 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Junction City and Danville trade workers both ways
Danville is the top workplace for Junction City residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Junction City come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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 880 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Junction City
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Junction City is better than 10% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Junction City’s grade up (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Junction City could be anywhere from D to C+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Junction City
On a workday 870 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 141 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Junction City on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.17 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.
34% of working residents work in Danville
Where Junction City clocks in
34% of workers
7% 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 151 jobs based in Junction City
151 jobs are based in Junction City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Junction City, 2013 → 2023: 102 → 151. 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 Junction City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Junction City: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Junction City workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,025 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.
Where in the region Junction City works
About 19% 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.
In Junction City, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Junction City is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 5.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,104 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 13.4% of Junction City households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Junction City’s commuters take a bus or train.
4,812th of 5,552: where Junction City ranks among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 17 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,810 | Radium Springs NM | 1,908 | $44K | 15.4% | 8.7% | 4% | D |
| 4,811 | Wilkinson Heights SC | 2,012 | $25K | 29.7% | 15.0% | 8% | D |
| 4,812 | Junction City KY | 2,346 | $46K | 27.9% | 7.2% | 1% | D |
| 4,813 | South Pittsburg TN | 2,927 | $58K | 21.8% | 11.9% | 10% | D |
| 4,814 | Aetna Township MI | 2,357 | $63K | 30.3% | 5.7% | 3% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,552 | 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 Junction City, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
34% of Junction City works in a bordering town
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Junction City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junction City | – | D | B | 24 min | $45,938 |
| Danville | 34% | C− | A | 17 min | $52,646 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Danville. Darker towns draw more of Junction City’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 Junction City: questions
What is the median household income in Junction City?
$45,938 (±$17,774) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Junction City?
27.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Junction City?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Junction City work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Danville (34%, 4 mi), Lexington (11%, 36 mi), Harrodsburg (7%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Junction City walkable?
Junction City is more walkable than 56% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Junction City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Junction City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Junction City
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.