Work & commute · Rolla

Work & commute in Rolla, KS

Most working residents leave Rolla for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Elkhart (28%), Guymon (7%) and Liberal (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

6 of 128 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 122 Rolla residents head out of town to work, 6 work right here, and 101 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rolla.

122live here, work elsewhere

6live and work here

101work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rolla goes to work

Elkhart16.5 mi away

28%36

Guymon, OK30.8 mi away

7%9

Liberal39.1 mi away

6%8

Hugoton16.3 mi away

5%7

Rolla (in town)right here

5%6

Garden City73.1 mi away

4%5

Wichita238.4 mi away

3%4

Topeka348.9 mi away

3%4

Hutchinson214.1 mi away

2%2

Manhattan308.2 mi away

2%2

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%45

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

How far

How far Rolla commutes

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

16%

35%

18%

31%

16%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rolla 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 Rolla are

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

Jobs based in Rolla

107 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities35%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month22%

Over $3,333 a month62%

Jobs Rolla residents hold

128 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month54%

−10%

Jobs based in Rolla, 2013 → 2023: 119 → 107. 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.