Work & commute · La Center

Work & commute in La Center, KY

Most working residents leave La Center for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Paducah (30%), Wickliffe (4%) and Kevil (3%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19 of 348 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 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 329 La Center residents head out of town to work, 19 work right here, and 314 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in La Center.

329live here, work elsewhere

19live and work here

314work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where La Center goes to work

Paducah18.2 mi away

30%103

La Center (in town)right here

5%19

Wickliffe9.5 mi away

4%14

Kevil5.1 mi away

3%11

Calvert City32 mi away

2%7

Barlow4.2 mi away

2%6

Mayfield29.6 mi away

2%6

Lexington-Fayette urban county256.2 mi away

2%6

Hendron18.4 mi away

1%5

Metropolis, IL16.7 mi away

1%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%168

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

How far

How far La Center commutes

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

28%

43%

11%

17%

28%Under 10 mi

43%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

La Center is balanced between jobs and homes

0.96jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.96 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in La Center are

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

Jobs based in La Center

333 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities25%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less36%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month34%

Jobs La Center residents hold

348 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+18%

Jobs based in La Center, 2013 → 2023: 283 → 333. 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.