Work & commute · Cottonwood

Work & commute in Cottonwood, KS

Most working residents leave Cottonwood for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Cottonwood Falls (23%), Emporia (14%) and Topeka (7%). Half commute less than 29 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

3 of 70 working residents

Typical commute

29 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

— 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 Cottonwood residents head out of town to work, 3 work right here, and 82 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cottonwood.

67live here, work elsewhere

3live and work here

82work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cottonwood goes to work

Cottonwood Falls12.4 mi away

23%16

Emporia31 mi away

14%10

Topeka76.6 mi away

7%5

Falls11.8 mi away

6%4

Strong City13.6 mi away

4%3

Cottonwood (in town)right here

4%3

Americus30.3 mi away

3%2

Wichita52.8 mi away

3%2

East Branch25.6 mi away

3%2

LeRoy62.3 mi away

1%1

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%22

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

How far

How far Cottonwood commutes

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

30%

27%

34%

9%Under 10 mi

30%10–24 mi

27%25–50 mi

34%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cottonwood is balanced between jobs and homes

1.21jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cottonwood are

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

Jobs based in Cottonwood

85 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)88%

Trade, transport & utilities0%

Services (health, schools, offices…)12%

$1,250 a month or less8%

$1,251–$3,333 a month9%

Over $3,333 a month82%

Jobs Cottonwood residents hold

70 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month41%

+6%

Jobs based in Cottonwood, 2013 → 2023: 80 → 85. 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.