J. B. Allen House · Photo: TEDD LiGGETT · CC BY-SA 4.0Work, pay and getting to work in Smithfield
The average commute takes 26 minutes each way, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. Working from home is the commute for 1% of workers, against 10% across Kentucky. Hardly any stay in Smithfield for work; outside it, Louisville is the main destination (13%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Smithfield by day and by night
On a workday 64 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 55 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 (0.86 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.
The towns that employ Smithfield’s residents
Where Smithfield clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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 jobs in Smithfield are in services
55 jobs are based in Smithfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smithfield, 2013 → 2023: 3 → 55. 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 Smithfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Smithfield, about 26 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smithfield workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 99 commuters (the 1% 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.
Smithfield’s commute, mile by mile
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.
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 Smithfield: questions
What is the median household income in Smithfield?
$49,375 (±$14,161) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smithfield?
17.6%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smithfield?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smithfield work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Louisville (13%, 26 mi), New Castle (8%, 6 mi), La Grange (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Smithfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Smithfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smithfield
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.