Photo: FatCat96 · CC BY-SA 4.0Payne Gap has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
Hardly any stay in Payne Gap for work; outside it, Whitesburg is the main destination (19%, 9 miles). Employers in Payne Gap report 24 jobs; 102 of its residents have a job. 0% of workers have no commute at all, where Kentucky as a whole has 10%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily commute in and out of Payne Gap
On a workday 102 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 24 people come in from elsewhere.
About 360 people are in Payne Gap on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Payne Gap work
Where Payne Gap clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Goods, not services: 54% of the jobs in Payne Gap
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Payne Gap, 2013 → 2023: 33 → 24. 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 Payne Gap’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Working from home in Payne Gap
of Payne Gap workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 135 commuters (the 0% 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 commute from Payne Gap, by distance
About 26% 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.
Payne Gap and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Jenkins (6%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Payne Gap’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 Payne Gap: questions
What is the median household income in Payne Gap?
$36,250 (±$30,869) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Payne Gap?
15.0%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Payne Gap work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Whitesburg (19%, 9 mi), Pikeville (9%, 24 mi), Hazard (7%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Payne Gap without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 29% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Payne Gap, from the people who make the trip.
More of Payne Gap
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.