With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Southgate works elsewhere
Household incomes here are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns. Southgate has 732 jobs, and 1,697 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Southgate B−; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Southgate at work: what stands out
Southgate has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Southgate went from 491 in 2013 to 732 in 2023, +49%. The jobs ↓
Most Southgate residents work close to home
62% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
A young workforce
30% of Southgate’s working residents are 29 or younger. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Southgate gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Southgate is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #62 of 142 in Kentucky. Job access by car holds Southgate’s grade up (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.8%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Southgate could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The kinds of work in Southgate
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Southgate, 2013 → 2023: 491 → 732. 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 Southgate’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Southgate, by distance
About 16% 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.
Who leaves Southgate for work, and who comes in
On a workday 1,680 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 715 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Southgate on a workday afternoon, 25% 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.
17% of working residents work in Cincinnati
Where Southgate clocks in
17% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
Time on the road from Southgate: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Southgate workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,764 commuters (the 9% 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.
Most of Southgate commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Southgate is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns, #40 of 142 in Kentucky. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.1% across Kentucky.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,940 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 46% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 17% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 5.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 5.4% of Southgate households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Southgate’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Southgate is 2,363rd among 4,264 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 14 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Buckner KY | 4,119 | $164K | 0.1% | 2.1% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,361 | Benton ME | 2,821 | $61K | 10.0% | 1.7% | 4% | B− |
| 2,362 | Lincoln ID | 4,002 | $84K | 18.4% | 4.5% | 2% | B− |
| 2,363 | Southgate KY | 3,868 | $54K | 19.8% | 3.2% | 1% | B− |
| 2,364 | Algoma WI | 3,225 | $64K | 16.8% | 0.8% | 25% | B− |
| 2,365 | Franklin Township IN | 3,675 | $67K | 10.1% | 2.4% | 8% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,264 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Southgate, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
Southgate and its neighbors: 12% work next door
The biggest share goes to Newport (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Southgate workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southgate | – | B− | B+ | 20 min | $54,421 |
| Newport | 8% | C | A+ | 20 min | $60,853 |
| Fort Thomas | 4% | A | A− | 21 min | $104,350 |
| Wilder | under 2% | B− | C | 20 min | $70,893 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Southgate’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 Southgate: questions
What is the median household income in Southgate?
$54,421 (±$7,304) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Southgate?
19.8%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Southgate?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Southgate work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cincinnati (17%, 6 mi), Newport (8%, 2 mi), Covington (5%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Southgate walkable?
Southgate is more walkable than 74% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 11.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Southgate without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 17% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Southgate, from the people who make the trip.
More of Southgate
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.