Photo: Bedford at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Springfield’s household incomes are lower than in 89% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Springfield is better than 25% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (B+). 10.3% of residents live below the poverty line; Kentucky has 16.1%. About one in four stay in Springfield for work; outside it, Bardstown is the main destination (11%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Springfield apart on work
Springfield is where the jobs are
Springfield has 2,640 jobs, 1.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,300 people are in town, 41% more than the 3,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Springfield makes and builds things
50% of the jobs based in Springfield are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Springfield residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 34%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Springfield are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Kentucky. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Kentucky worker. 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.
The figures behind Springfield’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Springfield’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($48,750, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Springfield could be anywhere from D to B+.
Who commutes out of Springfield, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,026 residents head out to work, 373 work right here, and 2,267 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,300 people are in Springfield on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
1.9 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.
Springfield works in goods: 50% of its jobs
2,640 jobs are based in Springfield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Springfield, 2013 → 2023: 2,081 → 2,640. 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 Springfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Springfield: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Springfield workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,352 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.
Commuting in to Springfield: where workers come from
Where Springfield clocks in
11% of workers
10% 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 commute from Springfield, by distance
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.
In Springfield, most people drive to work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.1% across Kentucky, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,410 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.3% of Springfield households have no vehicle (Kentucky 6.8%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Springfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Springfield next to U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100: 3,522nd of 4,771 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Lakeside Park KY | 2,847 | $129K | 1.5% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 15 | Indian Hills KY | 2,939 | $192K | 2.6% | 0.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Windy Hills KY | 2,476 | $131K | 5.1% | 1.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,520 | Lake Luzerne NY | 3,067 | $47K | 33.4% | 1.3% | 11% | C |
| 3,521 | The Plains OH | 2,748 | $60K | 19.0% | 4.1% | 4% | C |
| 3,522 | Springfield KY | 3,033 | $49K | 10.3% | 5.5% | 27% | C |
| 3,523 | Wildwood Crest NJ | 3,000 | $69K | 9.6% | 10.7% | 10% | C |
| 3,524 | Brodhead WI | 3,214 | $50K | 14.9% | 5.2% | 19% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | 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 Springfield, the top three, the last and three more from Kentucky.
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 Springfield: questions
What is the median household income in Springfield?
$48,750 (±$21,712) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Springfield?
10.3%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Springfield?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Springfield work?
27% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bardstown (11%, 16 mi), Lebanon (10%, 9 mi), Louisville (5%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Springfield walkable?
Springfield is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Springfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Springfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Springfield
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.