Photo: Nyttend · Public domainThere are 4.2 jobs in Smithland for every working resident, and 385 people commute in
Only 8% stay in Smithland for work; outside it, Paducah is the main destination (28%, 14 miles). 392 jobs are based in Smithland for 93 working residents. Working residents average 29 minutes each way (Kentucky 24, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Smithland by day and by night
On a workday 86 residents head out to work and 7 work right here.
About 540 people are in Smithland on a workday afternoon, 124% more than live here.
4.2 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 people who work in Smithland live
Where Smithland clocks in
28% of workers
10% 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.
Smithland is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Smithland, 2013 → 2023: 365 → 392. 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 Smithland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 29 minutes to work from Smithland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Smithland workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 87 commuters (the 4% 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 many miles Smithland commutes
About 25% 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.
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 Smithland: questions
What is the median household income in Smithland?
$36,563 (±$30,607) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Smithland?
32.0%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Smithland?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Smithland work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paducah (28%, 14 mi), Calvert City (10%, 6 mi), Benton (3%, 20 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Smithland 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 Smithland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Smithland
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.