Photo: Ken Lund · CC BY-SA 2.0At 10.5%, unemployment in Salina is higher than in 95% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Salina are D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers, where Utah as a whole has 18%. About one in four work in Salina itself; outside it, Richfield draws the most (12%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Salina: the gist
Stores, warehouses and trucking
60% of the jobs in Salina are in trade, transport and utilities, against 31% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
How Salina earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Salina is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #117 of 119 in Utah. Household income holds Salina’s grade up ($64,129, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Salina could be anywhere from D− to B.
The 1,428 jobs based in Salina
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Salina, 2013 → 2023: 1,438 → 1,428. 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 Salina’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Salina commutes less than 16 miles
About 30% 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.
How a workday changes Salina
On a workday 864 residents head out to work, 275 work right here, and 1,153 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,900 people are in Salina on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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 Salina’s residents
Where Salina clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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.
Time on the road from Salina: 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 Salina workers work from home, vs 18% across Utah. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,010 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Utah: 82% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Salina is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Salina is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #106 of 119 in Utah. Both inputs place Salina near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,085 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). 1.9% of Salina households have no vehicle (Utah 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Salina’s commuters take a bus or train.
Salina next to U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,600: 4,661st of 5,278 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 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 88 | Lake Point UT | 2,947 | $137K | 2.0% | 1.1% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 430 | Richmond UT | 3,130 | $110K | 1.0% | 0.8% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 472 | River Heights UT | 2,253 | $118K | 5.5% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,659 | Fredonia KS | 2,041 | $59K | 19.3% | 0.4% | 36% | D |
| 4,660 | Canisteo NY | 2,140 | $54K | 16.6% | 10.3% | 13% | D |
| 4,661 | Salina UT | 2,640 | $64K | 15.7% | 10.5% | 24% | D |
| 4,662 | Buena Vista Township IL | 1,852 | $71K | 38.7% | 8.0% | 4% | D |
| 4,663 | Monon Township IN | 3,382 | $49K | 18.6% | 5.8% | 18% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,278 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Salina, the top three, the last and three more from Utah.
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 Salina: questions
What is the median household income in Salina?
$64,129 (±$9,207) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $95,166 across Utah and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Salina?
15.7%, against 8.5% across Utah and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Salina?
20 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Utah and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Salina work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Richfield (12%, 17 mi), Gunnison (7%, 15 mi), Aurora (3%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Salina walkable?
Salina is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Salina 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 Salina, from the people who make the trip.
More of Salina
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.