Work & commute · Bern

Work & commute in Bern, KS

Most working residents leave Bern for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Seneca (49%), Sabetha (6%) and Hiawatha (3%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

5 of 77 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 72 Bern residents head out of town to work, 5 work right here, and 368 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bern.

72live here, work elsewhere

5live and work here

368work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bern goes to work

Seneca10 mi away

49%38

Bern (in town)right here

6%5

Sabetha10.1 mi away

6%5

Hiawatha24.2 mi away

3%2

Topeka65.7 mi away

3%2

Kansas City, MO95.2 mi away

3%2

Adams12.3 mi away

3%2

West Lafayette, IN478.4 mi away

1%1

Highland38.1 mi away

1%1

Axtell16.4 mi away

1%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

23%18

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Bern commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

31%

47%

18%

31%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bern is a job hub

4.84jobs per working resident

A job hub

4.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Bern are

373 jobs are based in Bern. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bern’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bern

373 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)85%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)7%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Bern residents hold

77 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)39%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)44%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month55%

+85%

Jobs based in Bern, 2013 → 2023: 202 → 373. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.