Hays, KS (Fort Hays State University)

There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.

The neighbors in the Fort Hays State University neighborhood in Hays are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 96.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 76.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 99.1% of U.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 Fort Hays State University neighborhood, 31.2% of the working population is employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 29.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (20.1%), and 17.7% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.

Languages

The most common language spoken in the Fort Hays State University neighborhood is English, spoken by 91.6% of households. Some people also speak Spanish (5.1%).

Ethnicity / Ancestry

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 Fort Hays State University neighborhood in Hays, KS, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (39.3%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (16.0%), and residents who report Italian roots (8.4%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (6.4%), along with some Mexican ancestry residents (5.3%), among others.

Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in Fort Hays State University neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (80.5% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (54.5%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (31.3%) and 12.2% of residents also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors 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.