Work & commute · Plains

Work & commute in Plains, KS

Most working residents leave Plains for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Meade (11%), Liberal (8%) and Fowler (7%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

30 of 329 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 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 299 Plains residents head out of town to work, 30 work right here, and 191 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Plains.

299live here, work elsewhere

30live and work here

191work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Plains goes to work

Meade13.6 mi away

11%35

Plains (in town)right here

9%30

Liberal23.9 mi away

8%27

Fowler23.2 mi away

7%23

Mertilla10.2 mi away

5%18

West Plains3.1 mi away

5%16

Garden City51.2 mi away

4%12

Wichita180.1 mi away

4%12

Copeland21.6 mi away

3%11

Dodge City46.5 mi away

3%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%135

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

How far

How far Plains commutes

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

19%

40%

10%

30%

19%Under 10 mi

40%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Plains is a commuter town

0.67jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Plains are

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

Jobs based in Plains

221 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities35%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Plains residents hold

329 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+45%

Jobs based in Plains, 2013 → 2023: 152 → 221. 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.