Work & commute · Valley Center

Work & commute in Valley Center, KS

Most working residents leave Valley Center for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Wichita (55%), Park City (3%) and Newton (3%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

319 of 3,425 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

29 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 3,106 Valley Center residents head out of town to work, 319 work right here, and 1,487 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Valley Center.

3,106live here, work elsewhere

319live and work here

1,487work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Valley Center goes to work

Wichita10 mi away

55%1,890

Valley Center (in town)right here

9%319

Park City2.9 mi away

3%95

Newton14.2 mi away

3%94

Riverside17.6 mi away

3%92

Waco16.5 mi away

3%89

Hutchinson33.5 mi away

2%56

Overland Park162.3 mi away

1%50

Maize6.4 mi away

1%47

Topeka122.8 mi away

1%39

Everywhere elseother towns and states

19%654

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

How far

How far Valley Center commutes

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

38%

47%

10%

38%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Valley Center is a commuter town

0.53jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Valley Center are

1,806 jobs are based in Valley Center. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Valley Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Valley Center

1,806 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Valley Center residents hold

3,425 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month58%

−6%

Jobs based in Valley Center, 2013 → 2023: 1,920 → 1,806. 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.