Work & commute · Kearney

Work & commute in Kearney, MO

Most working residents leave Kearney for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Kansas City (29%), Liberty (10%) and Claycomo (4%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

576 of 5,142 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,566 Kearney residents head out of town to work, 576 work right here, and 2,415 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kearney.

4,566live here, work elsewhere

576live and work here

2,415work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kearney goes to work

Kansas City18.9 mi away

29%1,508

Kearney (in town)right here

11%576

Liberty8.5 mi away

10%495

Claycomo12.6 mi away

4%216

Kansas City, KS26.1 mi away

3%177

North Kansas City18.5 mi away

3%172

Excelsior Springs6.4 mi away

3%135

Independence18.6 mi away

2%120

Lee's Summit30 mi away

2%119

Overland Park, KS36.8 mi away

2%101

Everywhere elseother towns and states

30%1,523

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

How far

How far Kearney commutes

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

27%

41%

22%

10%

27%Under 10 mi

41%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kearney is a commuter town

0.58jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Kearney are

2,991 jobs are based in Kearney. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kearney’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kearney

2,991 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities28%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month53%

Jobs Kearney residents hold

5,142 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month20%

Over $3,333 a month67%

+17%

Jobs based in Kearney, 2013 → 2023: 2,547 → 2,991. 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.