Work & commute · Smith Center

Work & commute in Smith Center, KS

51% of Smith Center’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Wichita (3%), Hays (3%) and Kensington (3%). Half commute less than 1 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

51%

353 of 699 working residents

Typical commute

1 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

12 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 346 Smith Center residents head out of town to work, 353 work right here, and 496 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Smith Center.

346live here, work elsewhere

353live and work here

496work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Smith Center goes to work

Smith Center (in town)right here

51%353

Wichita163.5 mi away

3%20

Hays68 mi away

3%19

Kensington13.3 mi away

3%18

Osborne23.5 mi away

2%16

Phillipsburg28.6 mi away

2%14

Glade28.7 mi away

2%11

Beloit41.8 mi away

1%10

Kearney, NE66 mi away

1%9

Natoma42.4 mi away

1%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%221

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

How far

How far Smith Center commutes

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

53%

11%

27%

53%Under 10 mi

8%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Smith Center is balanced between jobs and homes

1.21jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Smith Center are

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

Jobs based in Smith Center

849 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month42%

Jobs Smith Center residents hold

699 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month40%

+1%

Jobs based in Smith Center, 2013 → 2023: 842 → 849. 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.