Work & commute · Falls

Work & commute in Falls, KS

About one in 4 of Falls’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Cottonwood Falls (23%), Emporia (21%) and Topeka (8%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24%

96 of 404 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 308 Falls residents head out of town to work, 96 work right here, and 359 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Falls.

308live here, work elsewhere

96live and work here

359work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Falls goes to work

Cottonwood Falls1.6 mi away

23%92

Emporia19.3 mi away

21%83

Topeka66 mi away

8%32

Wichita63.1 mi away

3%14

Strong City3.5 mi away

3%13

Cottonwood11.8 mi away

3%11

Olathe100.1 mi away

2%7

Lenexa103.1 mi away

1%6

Strong8.7 mi away

1%6

Council Grove22.1 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%135

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

How far

How far Falls commutes

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

30%

27%

36%

30%Under 10 mi

27%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

36%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Falls is balanced between jobs and homes

1.13jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.13 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Falls are

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

Jobs based in Falls

455 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Falls residents hold

404 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month50%

+67%

Jobs based in Falls, 2013 → 2023: 273 → 455. 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.