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Work & commute in Rocewood · A commuter town

97% of Rocewood’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Rocewood for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Atwood (32%), Center (8%) and Atwood (8%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Work in town
3%
3 of 114 working residents
Typical commute
19 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
15 min
Less than KS (20 min)
Work from home
21%
More than KS (12%)
Jobs based here
46
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Rocewood?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

32% of working residents work in Atwood

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Cheyenne WellsParachuteSeveranceMcDonald: 2 residents work here (2%)St. FrancisAtwood: 36 residents work here (32%)Oakley: 4 residents work here (4%)Colby: 5 residents work here (4%)Goodland: 2 residents work here (2%)Hays: 5 residents work here (4%)Wichita: 4 residents work here (4%)Center: 9 residents work here (8%)HerlBird CityDriftwood: 3 residents work here (3%)Atwood: 9 residents work here (8%)MirageJeffersonRocewoodLudellAtwoodCenterAtwoodColbyHaysOakleyRocewood
1
Atwood14.7 mi away
32%36
2
Center12.5 mi away
8%9
3
Atwood14.7 mi away
8%9
4
Colby33.6 mi away
4%5
5
Hays124.9 mi away
4%5
6
Oakley54.5 mi away
4%4
7
Wichita259.7 mi away
4%4
8
Driftwood16 mi away
3%3
9
McDonald3.7 mi away
2%2
10
Goodland38.9 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
31%35
The top trips

Where Rocewood clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 15 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kansas

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
113 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Rocewood15 min
Kansas20 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
21%

of Rocewood workers work from home, vs 12% across Kansas. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
Day and night

Rocewood quiets down on a workday

On a workday 111 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 43 people come in from elsewhere.

111live here, work elsewhere
3live and work here
43work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night380
Workday310
380live here− 110head out to work+ 43come in to work= 310on a workday

About 310 people are in Rocewood on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.40jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Rocewood commutes less than 19 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miAtwood: 32% · 14.7 miCenter: 8% · 12.5 miAtwood: 8% · 14.7 miColby: 4% · 33.6 miHays: 4% · 124.9 miOakley: 4% · 54.5 miWichita: 4% · 259.7 miDriftwood: 3% · 16 miMcDonald: 2% · 3.7 miGoodland: 2% · 38.9 miAtwood 32%Center 8%Atwood 8%Colby 4%Hays 4%Rocewood
RocewoodTop destinations (size = commuters)
4%Under 10 mi5 residents
51%10–24 mi57 residents
13%25–50 mi15 residents
31%Over 50 mi35 residents

About 31% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

What the 46 jobs in Rocewood are

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

Jobs based in RocewoodJobs Rocewood residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms26%19%
Trade, transport & utilities33%25%
Services: health, schools, offices41%55%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less35%22%
$1,251–$3,333 a month17%25%
Over $3,333 a month48%54%

Who does it

29 or younger20%18%
30 to 5454%58%
55 and older26%24%
+44%

Jobs based in Rocewood, 2013 → 2023: 32 → 46. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.

Next door

11% of Rocewood works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Center (8%). Darker towns draw more of Rocewood’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Rocewood

Rocewood home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Rocewood, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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