Work & commute · South Bend

Work & commute in South Bend, KS

Most working residents leave South Bend for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Great Bend (39%), Hoisington (7%) and Great Bend (7%). Half commute less than 7 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

15 of 263 working residents

Typical commute

7 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 248 South Bend residents head out of town to work, 15 work right here, and 587 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in South Bend.

248live here, work elsewhere

15live and work here

587work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where South Bend goes to work

Great Bend5.1 mi away

39%102

Hoisington15.3 mi away

7%19

Great Bend6.8 mi away

7%18

Wichita87 mi away

6%15

South Bend (in town)right here

6%15

Pawnee23.9 mi away

3%7

Hays51 mi away

2%6

Dodge City78.5 mi away

2%5

Larned20.8 mi away

1%3

Russell41.2 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

27%70

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

How far

How far South Bend commutes

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

53%

14%

25%

53%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

25%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

South Bend is a job hub

2.29jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in South Bend are

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

Jobs based in South Bend

602 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)69%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)9%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs South Bend residents hold

263 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−1%

Jobs based in South Bend, 2013 → 2023: 611 → 602. 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.