Photo: Montanabw · CC BY-SA 4.0Powell’s household incomes are lower than in 68% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Powell are C for jobs and income and A for walkability. 12.8% of residents live below the poverty line, against 10.5% across Wyoming. About two in five work in Powell; the top destination outside it is Cody (17%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Powell at work: what stands out
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Powell
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Powell is better than 27% of U.S. towns, #18 of 28 in Wyoming. Unemployment holds Powell’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 12% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Powell could be anywhere from D to B−.
Short hops and long hauls from Powell
About 19% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Powell
On a workday 1,543 residents head out to work, 1,191 work right here, and 1,795 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 (1.09 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.
Where Powell’s working residents head each day
Where Powell clocks in
17% of workers
2% 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.
Most jobs in Powell are in services
2,986 jobs are based in Powell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Powell, 2013 → 2023: 3,175 → 2,986. 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 Powell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Powell spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Powell workers work from home, vs 9% across Wyoming. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,703 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Wyoming: 83% 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.
In Powell, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Powell is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns, #2 of 28 in Wyoming. Both inputs place Powell 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 2,905 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 6.2% of Powell households have no vehicle (Wyoming 4.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Powell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Powell is 2,527th of 3,283 U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,900 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 343 | Ranchettes WY | 5,949 | $121K | 2.9% | 0.5% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,350 | Worland WY | 4,730 | $63K | 10.7% | 3.1% | 55% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,525 | Princeton IL | 7,674 | $62K | 12.7% | 5.4% | 32% | C |
| 2,526 | Wytheville VA | 8,128 | $47K | 21.2% | 2.4% | 35% | C |
| 2,527 | Powell WY | 6,574 | $64K | 12.8% | 3.7% | 44% | C |
| 2,528 | Sodus NY | 8,201 | $70K | 17.1% | 5.4% | 21% | C |
| 2,529 | Dock Junction GA | 8,147 | $41K | 27.0% | 2.3% | 10% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,598 | Lander WY | 7,379 | $75K | 9.5% | 7.4% | 52% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,283 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Powell, the top three, the last and three more from Wyoming.
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 Powell: questions
What is the median household income in Powell?
$63,523 (±$8,491) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $76,176 across Wyoming and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Powell?
12.8%, against 10.5% across Wyoming and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Powell?
18 minutes each way on average, against 19 across Wyoming and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Powell work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cody (17%, 22 mi), Lovell (2%, 19 mi), Casper (2%, 180 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Powell walkable?
Powell is more walkable than 92% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Powell without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Powell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Powell
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.