Photo: W.marsh · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Owenton have lower incomes than those in 81% of U.S. towns
14.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 16.1% across Kentucky. The two grades for Owenton are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in ten work in Owenton itself; outside it, Frankfort draws the most (9%, 24 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Owenton at work: what stands out
Owenton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Owenton is Frankfort, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (66) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Owenton 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 ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Owenton than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Owenton fell from 883 in 2013 to 596 in 2023, −33%. 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 ↓
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 739 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Owenton
On income, poverty and job access, Owenton is better than 15% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Owenton’s grade.
Unemployment (6.8%) is left out: Owenton’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, Owenton could be anywhere from D to C.
How far it is to work from Owenton
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.
About 33 minutes each way for Owenton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Owenton workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 592 commuters (the 6% 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.
The 596 jobs based in Owenton
596 jobs are based in Owenton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Owenton, 2013 → 2023: 883 → 596. 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 Owenton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Owenton
On a workday 673 residents head out to work, 66 work right here, and 530 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 (0.81 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.
Out of Owenton to work: where people go
Where Owenton clocks in
9% 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.
Most trips from Owenton start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Owenton is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 632 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). 11.3% of Owenton households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Owenton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Owenton is 4,418th among 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Pewee Valley KY | 1,668 | $157K | 3.0% | 2.7% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Audubon Park KY | 1,457 | $101K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 101 | Coldstream KY | 1,325 | $109K | 2.8% | 0.8% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,416 | Joseph City AZ | 2,153 | $75K | 17.1% | 7.8% | 11% | C− |
| 4,417 | Redwood Valley CA | 1,898 | $64K | 17.3% | 13.7% | 3% | C− |
| 4,418 | Owenton KY | 1,690 | $55K | 14.9% | 6.8% | 9% | C− |
| 4,419 | Jeffersonville KY | 2,137 | $56K | 16.1% | 8.4% | 1% | C− |
| 4,420 | Clyde NY | 2,127 | $62K | 21.7% | 11.6% | 10% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Owenton, 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 Owenton: questions
What is the median household income in Owenton?
$55,438 (±$9,302) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Owenton?
14.9%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Owenton?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Owenton work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Frankfort (9%, 24 mi), Georgetown (3%, 25 mi), Lexington (3%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Owenton walkable?
Owenton is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Owenton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Owenton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Owenton
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.