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Work & commute in Houston Lake · A commuter town

100% of Houston Lake’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Houston Lake for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Kansas City (36%), North Kansas City (11%) and Riverside (7%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Work in town
0%
0 of 118 working residents
Typical commute
8 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
18 min
Less than MO (24 min)
Work from home
29%
More than MO (13%)
Jobs based here
12
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Houston Lake?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

36% of working residents work in Kansas City

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Lenexa: 5 residents work here (4%)Overland Park: 4 residents work here (3%)Kansas City: 7 residents work here (6%)Olathe: 2 residents work here (2%)Houston LakeWeatherby LakeNorth Kansas City: 13 residents work here (11%)LexingtonRiverside: 8 residents work here (7%)Webster GrovesParkville: 4 residents work here (3%)Joplin: 2 residents work here (2%)Kansas City: 42 residents work here (36%)Lee's Summit: 3 residents work here (3%)AdamsPolkKansas CityNorth Kansas CityRiversideKansas CityLenexaOverland ParkHouston Lake
1
Kansas City5.8 mi away
36%42
211%13
3
Riverside1.4 mi away
7%8
46%7
5
Lenexa, KS18.4 mi away
4%5
6
Overland Park, KS21.1 mi away
3%4
7
Parkville4.8 mi away
3%4
8
Lee's Summit22.4 mi away
3%3
9
Olathe, KS23.8 mi away
2%2
10
Joplin146.3 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
24%28
The top trips

Where Houston Lake clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Missouri

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
136 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Houston Lake18 min
Missouri24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
29%

of Houston Lake workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.

About 3 in 10
Day and night

Houston Lake quiets down on a workday

On a workday 118 residents head out to work, 0 work right here, and 12 people come in from elsewhere.

118live here, work elsewhere
0live and work here
12work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night270
Workday170
270live here− 120head out to work+ 12come in to work= 170on a workday

About 170 people are in Houston Lake on a workday afternoon, 39% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.10jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Houston Lake commutes less than 8 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miKansas City: 36% · 5.8 miNorth Kansas City: 11% · 4.6 miRiverside: 7% · 1.4 miKansas City: 6% · 8 miLenexa: 4% · 18.4 miOverland Park: 3% · 21.1 miParkville: 3% · 4.8 miLee's Summit: 3% · 22.4 miOlathe: 2% · 23.8 miJoplin: 2% · 146.3 miKansas City 36%North Kansas City 11%Riverside 7%Kansas City 6%Lenexa 4%Houston Lake
Houston LakeTop destinations (size = commuters)
57%Under 10 mi67 residents
26%10–24 mi31 residents
2%25–50 mi2 residents
15%Over 50 mi18 residents

About 15% 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.

The jobs

Mostly services: health care, schools and offices

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

Jobs based in Houston LakeJobs Houston Lake residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms17%12%
Trade, transport & utilities0%28%
Services: health, schools, offices83%60%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less50%19%
$1,251–$3,333 a month25%18%
Over $3,333 a month25%63%

Who does it

29 or younger58%17%
30 to 5417%57%
55 and older25%26%
+100%

Jobs based in Houston Lake, 2013 → 2023: 6 → 12. 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.

How to read these numbers

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.
Beyond the commute

More of Houston Lake

Houston Lake home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Houston Lake, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
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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.

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