Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHouseholds in Livermore earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 20.9%, next to 16.1% for Kentucky as a whole. Livermore grades D for jobs and income and D for walkability. Only 4% stay in Livermore for work; outside it, Owensboro is the main destination (28%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Livermore: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in Livermore than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Livermore fell from 370 in 2013 to 157 in 2023, −58%. 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 ↓
Livermore and Owensboro trade workers both ways
Owensboro is the top workplace for Livermore residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Livermore come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Livermore workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 33 minutes each way, against 24 across Kentucky. Over a year that’s about 253 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical 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 414 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Livermore gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Livermore is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Livermore’s grade up (ahead of 36% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($40,099, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (5.5%) is left out: Livermore’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Livermore could be anywhere from D− to C.
What Livermore’s employers do
157 jobs are based in Livermore.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Livermore, 2013 → 2023: 370 → 157. 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 Livermore’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that employ Livermore’s residents
Where Livermore clocks in
28% of workers
5% 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.
Each way, about 33 minutes from Livermore
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Livermore workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 371 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.
How a workday changes Livermore
On a workday 397 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 140 people come in from elsewhere.
About 940 people are in Livermore on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.38 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.
Miles to work from Livermore
About 21% 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.
The commute in Livermore is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Livermore is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns. 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 399 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). 24.2% of Livermore households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Livermore’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Livermore ranks: 3,657th of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 71 | Coldstream KY | 1,325 | $109K | 2.8% | 0.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Heritage Creek KY | 1,244 | $100K | 2.4% | 1.6% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,655 | Fairmead CA | 1,229 | $47K | 32.4% | 12.8% | 1% | D |
| 3,656 | Joanna SC | 1,306 | $49K | 20.5% | 1.4% | 1% | D |
| 3,657 | Livermore KY | 1,197 | $40K | 20.9% | 5.5% | 4% | D |
| 3,658 | Brown City MI | 1,280 | $59K | 18.6% | 9.9% | 12% | D |
| 3,659 | Bradford TN | 1,006 | $47K | 24.0% | 0.0% | 7% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Livermore, 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 Livermore: questions
What is the median household income in Livermore?
$40,099 (±$21,120) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Livermore?
20.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Livermore?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Livermore work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Owensboro (28%, 18 mi), Calhoun (5%, 8 mi), Lexington (2%, 151 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Livermore walkable?
Livermore is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Livermore without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Livermore, from the people who make the trip.
More of Livermore
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.