Photo: TulGuy · CC BY 4.0How Kansas works: jobs, income and commuting
Commuters spend 26 minutes getting to work on average, where Oklahoma has 22 and the U.S. 26. 2% of workers work from home, against 9% across Oklahoma. Only 6% work in Kansas; the top destination outside it is Siloam Springs (8%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Who commutes out of Kansas, and who commutes in
On a workday 239 residents head out to work, 14 work right here, and 216 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 (0.91 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 Kansas’ residents
Where Kansas clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
230 jobs are based in Kansas.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kansas, 2013 → 2023: 286 → 230. 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 Kansas’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Kansas: about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kansas workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 316 commuters (the 2% who work from home are left out). Across Oklahoma: 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 far it is to work from Kansas
About 29% 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.
Kansas and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kansas workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | – | — | — | 26 min | $33,438 |
| Twin Oaks | under 3% | — | — | 31 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Twin Oaks: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Kansas’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 Kansas: questions
What is the median household income in Kansas?
$33,438 (±$29,406) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kansas?
34.4%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kansas?
26 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kansas work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Siloam Springs (8%, 14 mi), Tulsa (6%, 62 mi), Pryor Creek (5%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Kansas without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kansas, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kansas
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.