Work & commute · Center

Work & commute in Center, KS

Most working residents leave Center for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are La Crosse (18%), Hays (11%) and Great Bend (11%). Half commute less than 28 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

4 of 71 working residents

Typical commute

28 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 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 67 Center residents head out of town to work, 4 work right here, and 78 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Center.

67live here, work elsewhere

4live and work here

78work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Center goes to work

La Crosse8.1 mi away

18%13

Hays32.3 mi away

11%8

Great Bend27.9 mi away

11%8

La Crosse-Brookdale8.8 mi away

7%5

Ness City32.4 mi away

4%3

Albert16.3 mi away

3%2

Rush Center3.4 mi away

3%2

McCracken18.2 mi away

3%2

Hoisington29.6 mi away

3%2

Liberal129.5 mi away

3%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%24

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

How far

How far Center commutes

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

31%

11%

31%

27%

31%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

31%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Center is balanced between jobs and homes

1.15jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Center are

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

Jobs based in Center

82 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities52%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month56%

Jobs Center residents hold

71 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less25%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month34%

−63%

Jobs based in Center, 2013 → 2023: 224 → 82. 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.