Hardly anyone in Massac is out of work
Only 2% work in Massac; the top destination outside it is Paducah (48%, 4 miles). Jobs and income earn Massac A−; getting around on foot earns it D. Household incomes here are higher than in 71% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Massac
Nearly half of Massac works in Paducah
906 working residents, 48%, have their main job in Paducah, 3.5 miles away across the town line. That’s 24 times as many as work in Massac itself. The commute map ↓
Most Massac residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Massac is a place people come home to
There are 458 jobs based in Massac, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Massac has about 3,300 people in it, 30% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Massac are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. Time on the road ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Massac
54% of Massac residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 36% of the jobs based in Massac pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Massac
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Massac is better than 76% of U.S. towns, #29 of 142 in Kentucky. Unemployment holds Massac’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (10.1%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Massac could be anywhere from B to A.
Where Massac’s working residents head each day
Where Massac clocks in
48% 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.
Half of Massac commutes less than 6 miles
About 16% 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.
Who commutes out of Massac, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,835 residents head out to work, 36 work right here, and 422 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Massac on a workday afternoon, 30% fewer than live here.
0.24 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.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kentucky
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Massac workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,890 commuters (the 15% 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.
What the 458 jobs in Massac are
458 jobs are based in Massac.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Massac, 2013 → 2023: 423 → 458. 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 Massac’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Massac, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Massac is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns, #135 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 2,219 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). 2.1% of Massac households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Massac’s commuters take a bus or train.
Massac next to U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,300: 949th of 3,798 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 271 | Fort Wright KY | 6,240 | $105K | 3.0% | 3.4% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 286 | Prospect KY | 4,705 | $163K | 2.4% | 4.2% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 947 | Carroll Valley PA | 4,051 | $93K | 6.1% | 0.5% | 1% | A− |
| 948 | Linwood Township MN | 5,403 | $116K | 6.7% | 5.0% | 3% | A− |
| 949 | Massac KY | 4,698 | $93K | 10.1% | 0.0% | 2% | A− |
| 950 | Briar Chapel NC | 6,049 | $166K | 0.6% | 8.2% | 2% | A− |
| 951 | Indian Grove Township IL | 4,111 | $75K | 2.5% | 0.8% | 19% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,798 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Massac, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Work next door: 50% of Massac’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Paducah. Darker towns draw more of Massac’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 Massac: questions
What is the median household income in Massac?
$92,560 (±$21,529) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Massac?
10.1%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Massac?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Massac work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paducah (48%, 4 mi), Calvert City (3%, 16 mi), Mayfield (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Massac walkable?
Massac is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Massac 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 Massac, from the people who make the trip.
More of Massac
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.