Work & commute · Oberlin

Work & commute in Oberlin, KS

About one in 3 of Oberlin’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Liberty (7%), McCook (6%) and Norton (4%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

37%

260 of 706 working residents

Typical commute

27 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

12 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

19%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 446 Oberlin residents head out of town to work, 260 work right here, and 330 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oberlin.

446live here, work elsewhere

260live and work here

330work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oberlin goes to work

Oberlin (in town)right here

37%260

Liberty4.1 mi away

7%47

McCook, NE26.8 mi away

6%44

Norton33.9 mi away

4%26

Hays91.6 mi away

3%18

Colby40.8 mi away

2%16

Atwood27.1 mi away

2%14

Wichita226.1 mi away

2%14

Hoxie32.6 mi away

2%12

Oakley51.2 mi away

2%11

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%244

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

How far

How far Oberlin commutes

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

45%

21%

30%

45%Under 10 mi

3%10–24 mi

21%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oberlin is balanced between jobs and homes

0.84jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.84 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oberlin are

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

Jobs based in Oberlin

590 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)79%

$1,250 a month or less28%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs Oberlin residents hold

706 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month48%

−14%

Jobs based in Oberlin, 2013 → 2023: 686 → 590. 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.