Smith Center is a very small city located in the state of Kansas. With a population of 1,585 people and just one neighborhood, Smith Center is the 199th largest community in Kansas.
Unlike some cities where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Smith Center is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Smith Center is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and managers. There are especially a lot of people living in Smith Center who work in management occupations (15.85%), office and administrative support (15.18%), and sales jobs (11.98%).
It is a fairly quiet city because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Smith Center has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Smith Center has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Smith Center than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Smith Center may be for you.
Residents of the city have the good fortune of having one of the shortest daily commutes compared to the rest of the country. On average, they spend only 11.54 minutes getting to work every day.
The education level of Smith Center citizens, measured as those with bachelor's degrees or advanced degrees, is similar to the national average for all American cities and towns. 19.48% of adults 25 and older in Smith Center have a college degree.
The per capita income in Smith Center in 2022 was $31,155, which is middle income relative to Kansas and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $124,620 for a family of four. However, Smith Center contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Smith Center home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Smith Center residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Smith Center include German, English, Irish, Swedish, and Scottish.
The most common language spoken in Smith Center is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
Whether walking, biking, riding, or driving, the length of one's commute is an important factor for one's quality of life. The neighborhood stands out for its commute length, according to NeighborhoodScout's analysis. Residents of the neighborhood have the pleasure of having one of the shortest commutes to work of any neighborhood in America. 83.5% of the residents have a commute time from home to work (one way) of less than fifteen minutes. This is a higher proportion of residents enjoying a short trip to work than NeighborhoodScout found in 99.7% of U.S. neighborhoods. Less time commuting means more time for other things in life.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Smith Center are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 78.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 4.2% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 67.2% of America's neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 38.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations, with 22.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (21.3%), and 15.2% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.5% of households. Some people also speak Polish (2.3%).
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Smith Center, KS, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (29.7%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (11.9%), and residents who report Irish roots (9.8%), and some of the residents are also of Swedish ancestry (3.0%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (2.6%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (83.5% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (80.8%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (9.0%) and 5.8% of residents also hop out the door and walk to work for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.