Work & commute · Olathe

Work & commute in Olathe, KS

About one in 4 of Olathe’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Overland Park (21%), Lenexa (11%) and Kansas City (9%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

17,960 of 70,085 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 52,125 Olathe residents head out of town to work, 17,960 work right here, and 49,736 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Olathe.

52,125live here, work elsewhere

17,960live and work here

49,736work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Olathe goes to work

Olathe (in town)right here

26%17,960

Overland Park7 mi away

21%14,743

Lenexa5.8 mi away

11%7,899

Kansas City, MO22.2 mi away

9%6,270

Kansas City17.1 mi away

5%3,649

Shawnee9.4 mi away

3%2,144

Leawood10.6 mi away

2%1,749

Merriam11.6 mi away

2%1,171

Lawrence24.5 mi away

1%1,002

Wichita160 mi away

1%962

Everywhere elseother towns and states

18%12,536

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

How far

How far Olathe commutes

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

61%

28%

61%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

3%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Olathe is balanced between jobs and homes

0.97jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.97 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Olathe are

67,696 jobs are based in Olathe. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Olathe’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Olathe

67,696 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month61%

Jobs Olathe residents hold

70,085 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)67%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month66%

+16%

Jobs based in Olathe, 2013 → 2023: 58,217 → 67,696. 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.