Photo: Paul Sableman from St. Louis, MO · CC BY 2.0At 7.2%, unemployment in Newport is higher than in 84% of U.S. towns
21% of workers work from home, where Kentucky as a whole has 10%. The two grades for Newport are C for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 4.7 in Louisville.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Newport, in a few figures
A lot of Newport workers cross into Ohio
34% of Newport workers work outside Kentucky, most of them in Ohio, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
A lot of Newport works from home
21% of Newport workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Time on the road ↓
A lot of Newport works one town over
28% of working residents work in a town that borders Newport: Cincinnati (20%), Covington (6%) and Fort Thomas (2%). Next door ↓
Most Newport residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
Newport draws workers from far and wide
The 8,705 jobs in Newport are filled from a wide area. Newport’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 35%; the other 58% 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why Newport gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Newport is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #80 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Newport’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Newport could be anywhere from C− to B−.
20% of working residents work in Cincinnati
Where Newport clocks in
20% of workers
6% 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.
Newport’s commute takes about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Newport workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,673 commuters (the 21% 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 Newport
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.
The daily commute in and out of Newport
On a workday 6,178 residents head out to work, 613 work right here, and 8,092 people come in from elsewhere.
About 16,000 people are in Newport on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.28 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.
Inside Newport’s 8,705 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Newport, 2013 → 2023: 6,954 → 8,705. 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 Newport’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Newport
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Newport is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns, #1 of 142 in Kentucky. Both inputs place Newport 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 7,200 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 85% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 7.8 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 91% 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). 14.9% of Newport households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Newport’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Newport ranks: 1,741st of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Francisville KY | 10,565 | $159K | 1.7% | 1.3% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 148 | Oakbrook KY | 10,211 | $95K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 328 | Burlington KY | 18,008 | $109K | 5.5% | 2.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,739 | Madison Township IN | 18,077 | $61K | 14.2% | 4.0% | 46% | C |
| 1,740 | Pine Castle FL | 10,371 | $50K | 20.3% | 5.7% | 1% | C |
| 1,741 | Newport KY | 13,998 | $61K | 20.8% | 7.2% | 9% | C |
| 1,742 | Sugarmill Woods FL | 10,782 | $71K | 10.8% | 5.6% | 4% | C |
| 1,743 | Anderson Creek NC | 13,927 | $87K | 14.6% | 7.1% | 4% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Newport, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Work next door: 28% of Newport’s workers
The biggest share goes to Cincinnati (20%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Newport workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newport | – | C | A+ | 20 min | $60,853 |
| Fort Thomas | 2% | A | A− | 21 min | $104,350 |
| Southgate | under 2% | B− | B+ | 20 min | $54,421 |
| Bellevue | under 2% | B+ | A | 19 min | $71,166 |
| Wilder | under 2% | B− | C | 20 min | $70,893 |
| Woodlawn | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Covington | 6% | C+ | A | 22 min | $61,166 |
Same-state neighbors only. Woodlawn: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Newport’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 Newport: questions
What is the median household income in Newport?
$60,853 (±$4,198) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Newport?
20.8%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Newport?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Newport work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (20%, 4 mi), Covington (6%, 4 mi), Florence (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Newport walkable?
Newport is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 15.8 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Newport without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. 85% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Newport, from the people who make the trip.
More of Newport
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.