Photo: NearEMPTiness · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in La Grange have higher incomes than those in 66% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 8.0% of residents, against 16.1% across Kentucky. Jobs and income earn La Grange B+; getting around on foot earns it C−. About one in ten work in La Grange itself; outside it, Louisville draws the most (16%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
La Grange at work: what stands out
La Grange trades workers with the towns around it
La Grange has about as many jobs (4,969) as working residents (4,428), but they are mostly different people: 3,935 residents leave for work each day while 4,476 people come in. Only 10% of the jobs in La Grange are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
La Grange and Louisville trade workers both ways
Louisville is the top workplace for La Grange residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in La Grange come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
La Grange has added jobs fast
Jobs based in La Grange went from 3,614 in 2013 to 4,969 in 2023, +37%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind La Grange’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, La Grange is better than 69% of U.S. towns, #35 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (4.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, La Grange could be anywhere from B− to A.
The daily commute in and out of La Grange
On a workday 3,935 residents head out to work, 493 work right here, and 4,476 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 (1.12 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.
Where La Grange goes to work
Where La Grange clocks in
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.
La Grange is a services town
4,969 jobs are based in La Grange.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in La Grange, 2013 → 2023: 3,614 → 4,969. 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 La Grange’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 26 minutes to work from La Grange
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of La Grange workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,474 commuters (the 11% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from La Grange
About 15% 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.
La Grange is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, La Grange is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #123 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,022 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). 2.5% of La Grange households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of La Grange’s commuters take a bus or train.
La Grange is 1,164th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Francisville KY | 10,565 | $159K | 1.7% | 1.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Union KY | 7,937 | $137K | 2.9% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Oakbrook KY | 10,211 | $95K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,162 | San Anselmo CA | 12,555 | $174K | 7.4% | 7.0% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,163 | Mascoutah IL | 9,239 | $97K | 9.8% | 4.1% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,164 | La Grange KY | 10,669 | $88K | 8.0% | 4.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,165 | Carlisle Township OH | 7,131 | $87K | 5.8% | 5.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,166 | Milton VT | 10,646 | $119K | 3.6% | 6.0% | 13% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 La Grange, 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 La Grange: questions
What is the median household income in La Grange?
$88,464 (±$14,705) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in La Grange?
8.0%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from La Grange?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in La Grange work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (16%, 21 mi), Buckner (7%, 4 mi), Jeffersontown (4%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is La Grange walkable?
La Grange is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around La Grange without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from La Grange, from the people who make the trip.
More of La Grange
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.