Work & commute · Great Bend

Work & commute in Great Bend, KS

42% of Great Bend’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Great Bend (8%), Wichita (7%) and South Bend (4%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

42%

2,647 of 6,334 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

14 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 3,687 Great Bend residents head out of town to work, 2,647 work right here, and 3,639 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Great Bend.

3,687live here, work elsewhere

2,647live and work here

3,639work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Great Bend goes to work

Great Bend (in town)right here

42%2,647

Great Bend4.4 mi away

8%485

Wichita91.5 mi away

7%434

South Bend5.1 mi away

4%232

Hoisington11.1 mi away

3%196

Hutchinson52.4 mi away

2%130

Hays45.9 mi away

2%123

Pawnee22.5 mi away

2%113

Topeka173.7 mi away

1%76

Larned20.4 mi away

1%72

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%1,826

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

How far

How far Great Bend commutes

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

56%

28%

56%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

28%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Great Bend is balanced between jobs and homes

0.99jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.99 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Great Bend are

6,286 jobs are based in Great Bend. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Great Bend’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Great Bend

6,286 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)68%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month45%

Jobs Great Bend residents hold

6,334 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month48%

−24%

Jobs based in Great Bend, 2013 → 2023: 8,283 → 6,286. 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.