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Work & commute in Custer · A commuter town

100% of Custer’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Custer for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Oberlin (22%), McCook (13%) and Hays (9%). Half commute less than 39 miles.

Work in town
0%
0 of 23 working residents
Typical commute
39 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Work from home
23%
More than KS (12%)
Jobs based here
1
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Custer?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

22% of working residents work in Oberlin

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Jennings: 1 residents work here (4%)Atwood: 1 residents work here (4%)Hoisington: 1 residents work here (4%)Oakley: 1 residents work here (4%)Oberlin: 5 residents work here (22%)Scott City: 1 residents work here (4%)Kingman: 1 residents work here (4%)Colby: 1 residents work here (4%)Hays: 2 residents work here (9%)McCook: 3 residents work here (13%)SummitCusterDresdenCenterJenningsOberlinMcCookHaysJenningsAtwoodHoisingtonCuster
1
Oberlin8.8 mi away
22%5
2
McCook, NE35.5 mi away
13%3
3
Hays83.7 mi away
9%2
4
Jennings9.5 mi away
4%1
5
Atwood31.2 mi away
4%1
6
Hoisington122.3 mi away
4%1
7
Oakley44.9 mi away
4%1
8
Scott City87.8 mi away
4%1
9
Kingman190.6 mi away
4%1
10
Colby37.8 mi away
4%1
Everywhere elseother towns and states
26%6
The top trips

Where Custer clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

Working from home in Custer

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

Working from home
23%

of Custer workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
Day and night

Custer quiets down on a workday

On a workday 23 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 1 people come in from elsewhere.

23live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
1work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night160
Workday140
160live here− 23head out to work+ 1come in to work= 140on a workday

About 140 people are in Custer on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.04jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.04 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Custer commutes less than 39 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miOberlin: 22% · 8.8 miMcCook: 13% · 35.5 miHays: 9% · 83.7 miJennings: 4% · 9.5 miAtwood: 4% · 31.2 miHoisington: 4% · 122.3 miOakley: 4% · 44.9 miScott City: 4% · 87.8 miKingman: 4% · 190.6 miColby: 4% · 37.8 miOberlin 22%McCook 13%Hays 9%Jennings 4%Atwood 4%Custer
CusterTop destinations (size = commuters)
22%Under 10 mi5 residents
9%10–24 mi2 residents
26%25–50 mi6 residents
43%Over 50 mi10 residents

About 43% 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.

The jobs

100% of the jobs in Custer pay over $3,333 a month

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

Jobs based in CusterJobs Custer residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%9%
Trade, transport & utilities100%17%
Services: health, schools, offices0%74%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less0%22%
$1,251–$3,333 a month0%43%
Over $3,333 a month100%35%

Who does it

29 or younger0%4%
30 to 54100%57%
55 and older0%39%

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Next door

Custer and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Custer’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Custer

Custer home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Custer, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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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.

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