Work & commute · West Plains

Work & commute in West Plains, KS

Most working residents leave West Plains for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Meade (11%), Plains (9%) and Liberal (8%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

52 of 367 working residents

Typical commute

24 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 315 West Plains residents head out of town to work, 52 work right here, and 305 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in West Plains.

315live here, work elsewhere

52live and work here

305work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where West Plains goes to work

Meade10.8 mi away

11%41

Plains3.1 mi away

9%34

Liberal25.8 mi away

8%29

Fowler20.8 mi away

7%25

Mertilla10.1 mi away

5%18

West Plains (in town)right here

5%18

Dodge City45.2 mi away

4%14

Wichita177.4 mi away

4%14

Garden City52.9 mi away

4%13

Copeland22.8 mi away

3%11

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%150

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

How far

How far West Plains commutes

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

19%

39%

11%

31%

19%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

West Plains is balanced between jobs and homes

0.97jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.97 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in West Plains are

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

Jobs based in West Plains

357 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)37%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)39%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs West Plains residents hold

367 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+55%

Jobs based in West Plains, 2013 → 2023: 231 → 357. 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.