67% of Lexington’s working residents work right in town
67% of Lexington’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Georgetown (3%), Louisville (2%) and Nicholasville (2%). Half commute less than 5 miles.
The short version on getting to work from Lexington
Lexington fills up on a workday
On a workday 45,293 residents head out to work, 90,632 work right here, and 104,352 people come in from elsewhere.
About 383,000 people are in Lexington on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.43 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
3% of working residents work in Georgetown
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Lexington clocks in
3% of workers
2% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Half of Lexington commutes less than 5 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 18% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
What the 194,984 jobs in Lexington are
194,984 jobs are based in Lexington. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lexington’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lexington, 2013 → 2023: 173,341 → 194,984. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Kentucky
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lexington workers work from home, vs 10% across Kentucky. Their commute is the hallway.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
- Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
More of Lexington
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lexington, from the people who make the trip.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.