Work & commute · Waterville

Work & commute in Waterville, KS

Most working residents leave Waterville for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Marysville (24%), Waterville (10%) and Manhattan (8%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

56 of 352 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 296 Waterville residents head out of town to work, 56 work right here, and 259 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waterville.

296live here, work elsewhere

56live and work here

259work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waterville goes to work

Marysville11.4 mi away

24%84

Waterville0.6 mi away

10%35

Manhattan36.2 mi away

8%29

Blue Rapids City5.8 mi away

7%25

Waterville (in town)right here

6%21

Blue Rapids4.9 mi away

5%19

Topeka72.5 mi away

3%12

Wichita142.7 mi away

3%11

Frankfort17.5 mi away

3%9

Washington17.9 mi away

2%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%101

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

How far

How far Waterville commutes

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

31%

32%

16%

22%

31%Under 10 mi

32%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waterville is balanced between jobs and homes

0.89jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Waterville are

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

Jobs based in Waterville

315 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)41%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)44%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Waterville residents hold

352 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−7%

Jobs based in Waterville, 2013 → 2023: 337 → 315. 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.