The 2009 population and housing census covered in brief the labour status as tabulated below. The main variable of interest for inequality discussed in the text is work for pay by level of education. The other variables, notably family business, family agricultural holdings, intern/volunteer, retired/homemaker, fulltime student, incapacitated and  no work are tabulated and presented in the annex table 3.3 up to ward level.  

Table 3: Overall Employment by Education levels in Bungoma County

In Bungoma County, 14% of the residents with no formal education, 10% of those with primary education and 19% of those with secondary or above level of education are working for pay. Work for pay is highest in Nairobi at 49% and this is thrice the level in Bungoma for those with secondary level of education or above.

In this report, the Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of consumption expenditure among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of '0' represents perfect equality, while an index of '1' implies perfect inequality. Bungoma County’s Gini index is 0.430 compared with Turkana county, which has the least inequality nationally (0.283).

In Bungoma County 1% of residents use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), 2% use paraffin, 85% use firewood and 11% use charcoal. Firewood is the most common cooking fuel by gender at 85% of male headed households and 86% of female headed households.

Bumula constituency uses the highest level of firewood in Bungoma County at 96%.This is 30 percentage points above the level in Kanduyi constituency, which has the lowest use. Bumula constituency is about 11 percentage points above the county average of residents’ use of firewood. South Bukusu ward has the highest level of firewood use in Bungoma County at 98%. This is almost nine times the level in Township ward, which has the lowest usage of firewood. South Bukusu is therefore 13 percentage points above the county average of residents using firewood.

Kanduyi constituency has the highest level of charcoal use in Bungoma County at 26%. This is almost nine times the level of use In Bumula constituency, which has the lowest level of usage. Kanduyi is 15 percentage points above the county average level of charcoal usage. Township ward has the highest level of charcoal use in Bungoma County at 66%.This is 64 percentage points more than South Bukusu, which has the lowest level. Township ward is therefore 55 percentage points above the county average level of charcoal usage.

Only 4% of residents in Bungoma County use electricity as their main source of lighting. A further 27% use lanterns, 67% use tin lamps, and 1% use fuel wood. Electricity use is insignificantly higher in male headed households at 5% in comparison with female headed households at 4%.

Kanduyi constituency has the highest level of electricity use at 12%.This is 11 percentage points above Bumula constituency, which has the lowest level of electricity use. The share of Kanduyi constituency in electricity use is 8 percentage points above the county average. Township ward has the highest level of electricity use at 42%.This is 42 percentage points above West Bukusu ward, which has the lowest level of electricity use. Township ward is 38 percentage points above the county average.

Bungoma County has 20% of its residents living in homes with cement floors, while 79% have earth floors. 1% of the residents has wood or tile floors. Kanduyi constituency has the highest share of cement floors at 36%.This is 26 percentage points above Bumula constituency, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Kanduyi, therefore, is 16 percentage points above the county average of households with cement floors. Township ward has the highest share of cement floors at 85%.This puts it 82 percentage points above Chepyuk ward, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Township ward is 65 percentage points above the county average of households with cement floors.

Bungoma County has less than 1% of its residents having homes with concrete roofs, while 78% have corrugated iron sheet roofs. Grass and makuti roofs cover 19% of homes, while no houses have mud/dung roofs.

Tongaren constituency has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 89%.This puts it 32 percentage points above Bumula constituency, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Tongaren constituency is therefore 11 percentage points above the county average. Khalaba ward has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 96%.This is twice the share of Chepyuk ward, which has the lowest percentage of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Khalaba ward is 18 percentage points above the county average share of corrugated iron sheet roofs.

Bumula constituency has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 40%.This is five times the share of Kimilili constituency which has the lowest percentage of grass/makuti roofs. Bumula constituency is 21 percentage points above the county average of grass/makuti roofing. Chepyuk ward has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 55%.This is 55 percentage points above Township ward, which has the lowest share. Chepyuk is therefore 36 percentage points above the county average share of households with grass/makuti roofing.

Only 16% of homes In Bungoma County have either brick or stone walls, while 83% of homes have mud/wood or mud/cement walls, and less than 1% have wood walls. 1% of the residents have corrugated iron walls, grass/thatched walls; tin or other walls.

Kanduyi constituency has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 27%.This is thrice the share of Bumula constituency, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Kanduyi is 11 percentage points above the county average share of households with brick/stone walls. Township ward has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 68%.This is 66 percentage points above Chepyuk ward, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Township ward is 52 percentage points above the county average of the share of households with brick/stone walls.

Bumula constituency has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 92%.This is 20 percentage points above Kanduyi constituency, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement. Bumula therefore stands are 9 percentage points above the county average share of households having mud with wood/cement walls. Kapkateny ward has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 95%.This is three times Township ward, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Kapkateny ward is 12 percentage points above the county average share of households having mud with wood/cement walls.

Improved sources of water comprise of protected spring, protected well, borehole, piped into dwelling, piped and rain water collection while unimproved sources include pond, dam, lake, stream/river, unprotected spring, unprotected well, jabia, water vendor and others.

While 72% of residents in Bungoma County use improved sources of water, the rest rely on unimproved sources. There is no gender differential in the use of improved sources as 72% of both male headed households and female headed households use such facilities.

Webuye West constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 87%.This is almost twice Mt. Elgon constituency, which has the lowest share of residents using improved sources of water. Webuye West is therefore 15 percentage points above the county average share of residents using improved sources of water. Bwake/Luuya ward has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 89%.This is thrice the share of Chepyuk ward, which has the lowest percentage of households using improved sources of water. Bwake/Luuya is 17 percentage points above the county average share of residents using improved sources of water.

A total of 72% of residents in Bungoma County use improved sanitation, while the rest use unimproved sanitation. The use of improved sanitation is equal by gender with both male and female headed households having a share of 72% each. Kabuchai constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 84%.This is almost twice the share of Mt. Elgon constituency, which has the lowest share in the use of improved sanitation.

Kabuchai is 12 percentage points above the county average. Kabula ward has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 92%.That is three times Kaptama ward, which has the lowest share using improved sanitation. Kabula ward is 20 percentage points above the county average share of residents using improved sanitation.