Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Upton has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Hardly any stay in Upton for work; outside it, Elizabethtown is the main destination (25%, 17 miles). There are 88 jobs in Upton, against 291 working residents. Commuters spend 30 minutes getting to work on average, next to 24 for Kentucky and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Upton, in brief
Upton is a place people come home to
There are 88 jobs based in Upton, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Upton has about 500 people in it, 29% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Upton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 24 across Kentucky. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical 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; with 291 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who leaves Upton for work, and who comes in
On a workday 290 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 87 people come in from elsewhere.
About 500 people are in Upton on a workday afternoon, 29% 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.
How long Upton spends getting to work: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Upton workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 267 commuters (the 7% 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.
Out of Upton to work: where people go
Where Upton clocks in
25% of workers
4% 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 Upton
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Upton, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 88. 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 Upton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Upton
About 26% 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 Upton: questions
What is the median household income in Upton?
$43,173 (±$10,026) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,726 across Kentucky and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Upton?
17.5%, against 16.1% across Kentucky and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Upton?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Kentucky and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Upton work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Elizabethtown (25%, 17 mi), Louisville (7%, 52 mi), Hodgenville (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Upton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Upton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Upton
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.