Work & commute · Elk

Work & commute in Elk, KS

Most working residents leave Elk for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Topeka (34%), Lawrence (7%) and Ridgeway (5%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

52 of 863 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 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 811 Elk residents head out of town to work, 52 work right here, and 246 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Elk.

811live here, work elsewhere

52live and work here

246work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Elk goes to work

Topeka17.7 mi away

34%294

Lawrence18.8 mi away

7%58

Ridgeway6.6 mi away

5%46

Overbrook1.7 mi away

5%42

Wichita124.2 mi away

4%38

Olathe39.8 mi away

3%25

Overland Park46.7 mi away

3%22

Lyndon15 mi away

2%20

Kansas City48.8 mi away

2%19

Carbondale7.7 mi away

2%17

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%282

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

How far

How far Elk commutes

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

14%

53%

15%

18%

14%Under 10 mi

53%10–24 mi

15%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Elk is a commuter town

0.35jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Elk are

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

Jobs based in Elk

298 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month39%

Jobs Elk residents hold

863 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+9%

Jobs based in Elk, 2013 → 2023: 273 → 298. 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.