Work & commute · Wakefield

Work & commute in Wakefield, KS

Most working residents leave Wakefield for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Clay Center (24%), Manhattan (11%) and Salina (6%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

8 of 330 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 322 Wakefield residents head out of town to work, 8 work right here, and 118 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wakefield.

322live here, work elsewhere

8live and work here

118work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wakefield goes to work

Clay Center12.8 mi away

24%78

Manhattan22.2 mi away

11%36

Salina42.4 mi away

6%19

Topeka72 mi away

6%19

Wakefield (in town)right here

2%8

Junction City15.8 mi away

2%8

Clifton28 mi away

2%7

Wichita107 mi away

2%7

Concordia41.4 mi away

2%6

Abilene23.1 mi away

2%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%136

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

How far

How far Wakefield commutes

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

53%

19%

24%

4%Under 10 mi

53%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wakefield is a commuter town

0.38jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Wakefield are

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

Jobs based in Wakefield

126 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Wakefield residents hold

330 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)58%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+9%

Jobs based in Wakefield, 2013 → 2023: 116 → 126. 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.