Work & commute · Downs

Work & commute in Downs, KS

Most working residents leave Downs for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Osborne (24%), Natoma (8%) and Beloit (7%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

41 of 307 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

13 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 266 Downs residents head out of town to work, 41 work right here, and 236 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Downs.

266live here, work elsewhere

41live and work here

236work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Downs goes to work

Osborne9.2 mi away

24%73

Downs (in town)right here

13%41

Natoma33.6 mi away

8%25

Beloit23.6 mi away

7%21

Hays59.8 mi away

4%12

Cawker City6.1 mi away

3%10

Round Mound28.4 mi away

3%8

Wichita141.1 mi away

2%6

Mankato26.6 mi away

2%5

Tilden15.1 mi away

2%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%101

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

How far

How far Downs commutes

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

43%

12%

21%

24%

43%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Downs is balanced between jobs and homes

0.90jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Downs are

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

Jobs based in Downs

277 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities34%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month35%

Jobs Downs residents hold

307 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities23%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month42%

−21%

Jobs based in Downs, 2013 → 2023: 349 → 277. 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.