Madisonville Armory · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainHousehold incomes in Madisonville trail those of 83% of U.S. towns
23.3% of residents are in poverty (Kentucky 16.1%). Madisonville grades D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About two in five work in Madisonville; the top destination outside it is Owensboro (4%, 36 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Madisonville stands out on work
Commutes from Madisonville are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
Madisonville draws workers from far and wide
The 10,034 jobs in Madisonville are filled from a wide area. Madisonville’s own residents hold 29% and the ten next-biggest home towns 11%; the other 60% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
The figures behind Madisonville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Madisonville is better than 12% of U.S. towns, #116 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Madisonville’s grade up (ahead of 42% 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, Madisonville could be anywhere from D to C−.
Time on the road from Madisonville: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Madisonville workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,157 commuters (the 5% 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 Madisonville goes to work
Where Madisonville clocks in
4% of workers
3% of workers
3% 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.
Madisonville fills up on a workday
On a workday 4,559 residents head out to work, 2,890 work right here, and 7,144 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Madisonville on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The kinds of work in Madisonville
10,034 jobs are based in Madisonville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Madisonville, 2014 → 2024: 12,861 → 10,034. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Madisonville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Madisonville’s workers travel
About 23% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Madisonville, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Madisonville is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #95 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Madisonville near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 7,496 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). 9.0% of Madisonville households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Madisonville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Madisonville sits among U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 277 | Burlington KY | 18,008 | $109K | 5.5% | 2.5% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 413 | Fort Thomas KY | 17,142 | $104K | 6.1% | 3.5% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 653 | Mount Washington KY | 18,989 | $96K | 5.3% | 4.6% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,688 | Ponca City OK | 24,225 | $56K | 17.9% | 6.9% | 40% | D |
| 1,689 | Carbondale IL | 21,811 | $32K | 37.4% | 10.4% | 40% | D |
| 1,690 | Madisonville KY | 19,428 | $54K | 23.3% | 6.9% | 39% | D |
| 1,691 | Murray KY | 18,964 | $44K | 24.1% | 5.8% | 41% | D |
| 1,692 | Zanesville OH | 25,138 | $43K | 24.1% | 7.4% | 30% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Madisonville, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Work in the towns next to Madisonville
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Madisonville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madisonville | – | D | C+ | 18 min | $53,860 |
| Earlington | under 2% | D− | D− | 17 min | $38,194 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Madisonville’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 2024, 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 Madisonville: questions
What is the median household income in Madisonville?
$53,860 (±$3,721) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Madisonville?
23.3%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Madisonville?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Madisonville work?
39% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Owensboro (4%, 36 mi), Hopkinsville (3%, 35 mi), Hanson (3%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Madisonville walkable?
Madisonville is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Madisonville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Madisonville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Madisonville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.