Hindman Ben Franklin · Photo: Nyttend · Public domainPhelps has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
For 0% of workers, the job is at home (Kentucky 10%). There are 82 jobs in Phelps, and 202 of its residents work somewhere. Only 2% stay in Phelps for work; outside it, Pikeville is the main destination (21%, 20 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Phelps
A big share show a job far from home
32% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Few Phelps workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 10% across Kentucky. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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 202 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where in the region Phelps works
About 32% 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.
Working from home in Phelps
of Phelps workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 23 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.
How a workday changes Phelps
On a workday 198 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 78 people come in from elsewhere.
About 180 people are in Phelps on a workday afternoon, 40% 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 the trip to work from Phelps ends
Where Phelps clocks in
21% of workers
2% 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.
The kinds of work in Phelps
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Phelps, 2013 → 2023: 89 → 82. 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 Phelps’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 Phelps: questions
What is the poverty rate in Phelps?
36.5%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
Where do people who live in Phelps work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pikeville (21%, 20 mi), Lexington (3%, 131 mi), Prestonsburg (2%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Phelps without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 39% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Phelps, from the people who make the trip.
More of Phelps
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.