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 4.3 up to ward level.

 Table 4: Overall Employment by education Levels in Busia County

In Busia County, 10% of the residents with no formal education; 10%  with primary education and 21%  with secondary or above level of education are working for pay. Work for pay for those with secondary or above level of education is highest in Nairobi at 49%; this is twice the level in Bungoma.

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. Busia County’s Gini index is 0.459 compared with Turkana County, which has the least inequality nationally (0.283).

In Busia County, less than 1% of residents use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 2% use paraffin. A total of 84% use firewood and 13% use charcoal. Firewood is the most common cooking fuel by gender, as 83% of male headed households and 87% of female headed households use it.

Butula and Funyula constituencies have the highest level of firewood use in Busia County at 93% each. This is 24 percentage points above Matayos constituency, which has the lowest level of firewood use. Butula and Funyula are about 9 percentage points above the county average of firewood use. Three wards, Busibwabo, Chakol North and Bukhayo North/Walatsi, have the highest level of firewood use in Busia County at 98% each. This is almost nine times the level in Burumba, which has the lowest level of firewood use. Busibwabo, Chakol North and Bukhayo North/Walatsi are 14 percentage points above the county average of residents using firewood.

Matayos constituency has the highest level of charcoal use in Busia County at 26%.This is four times the level in Butula and Funyula constituencies, which have the lowest level of charcoals use. Matayos is 13 percentage points above the county average share of households using charcoal. Burumba ward has the highest level of charcoal use in Busia County at 77%.This is 76 percentage points more than Busibwabo ward, which has the lowest share. This is 64 percentage points above the county average of household levels of charcoal use.

Only 6% of residents in Busia County use electricity as their main source of lighting. A further 21% use lanterns, while 71% use tin lamps. Less than 1% of households use fuel wood. Electricity use is insignificantly higher in male headed households at 6% as compared with female headed households at 5%.

Matayos constituency has the highest level of electricity use at 11%.This is 9 percentage points above Butula constituency, which has the lowest level of electricity. Matayos is 5 percentage points above the county average of households using electricity. Burumba ward has the highest level of electricity use at 33%.This is 33 percentage points above Bukhayo North/Walatsi ward, which has the lowest level of electricity. Burumba is 27 percentage points above the county average of households using electricity as their main source of lighting.

Busia County has 23% of residents who have homes with cement floors, while 76% have earth floors. Less than 1% has wood or tile floors. Matayos constituency has the highest share of housing with cement floors at 34%. This is twice the percentage of Butula constituency, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Matayos is 11 percentage points above the county average in terms of housing with cement floors. Burumba ward has the highest share of housing with cement floors at 78%.This puts it at 11 times more than Chakol North ward, which has the lowest share of housing cement floors. Burumba is 55 percentage points above the county average of housing with cement floors.

Busia County has less than 1% of residents with homes that have concrete roofs, while 50% have corrugated iron roofs. Grass and makuti roofs cover 48% of homes, and there is no housing that has mud/dung roofing.

Matayos constituency has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 64%.This is almost twice Teso South constituency, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Matayos is 14 percentage points above the county average of households with corrugated iron sheet roofs. Burumba ward has the highest share of households with corrugated iron sheet roofs at 96%.This is five times Amukura West ward, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Burumba is 46 percentage points above the county average.

Teso South constituency has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 63%.That is almost twice Matayos constituency, which has the lowest share of grass/makuti roofs. Teso South constituency is 15 percentage points above the county average of households with grass/makuti roofs. Amukura West ward has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 82%, putting it 80 percentage points above Burumba ward, which has the lowest share. Amukura West is therefore 34 percentage points above the county average of households with grass/makuti roofs.

Busia County has 18% of homes that have either brick or stone walls, while 79% of the homes have mud/wood or mud/cement walls, and 2% have tin or other walls.1% of households have wood, corrugated iron sheet or grass/thatched walls.

Matayos constituency has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 28%. This is almost thrice the share of Budalangi constituency, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Matayos is therefore 10 percentage points above the county average of households with brick/stone walls. Burumba ward has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 67%. This is 22 times the share of Bunyala Central ward, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Burumba is 49 percentage points above the county average of households having brick/stone walls.

Butula and Budalangi constituencies have the highest share of households with mud with wood/cement walls at 87% each. This puts them 17 percentage points above Matayos constituency, which has the lowest share of households with mud with wood/cement. Butula and Budalangi constituencies are 8 percentage points above the county average of households with mud with wood/cement walls. Two wards, Bunyala Central and Chakol North, have the highest share of household walls of mud with wood/cement at 96% each. This is three times Burumba ward, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Bunyala Central and Chakol North wards are 17 percentage points above the county average of household walls of mud with wood/cement.

Improved sources of water comprise 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.

In Busia County, 61% of residents use improved sources of water, while the rest rely on unimproved water sources. There is no significant gender differential in the use of improved sources as 63% of female headed households and 61% of male headed households use these facilities.

Butula and Nambale constituencies have the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 73% each. This puts them at 27 percentage points above Teso North constituency, which has the lowest share of residents using improved sources of water. Butula and Nambale constituencies are 12 percentage points above the county average of residents using improved sources of water. Marachi Central ward has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 93%. This is four times Amukura West ward, which has the lowest share of households using improved sources of water. Marachi Central ward is 32 percentage points above the county average of residents using improved sources of water.

A total of 61% of residents in Busia County use improved sanitation, while the rest use unimproved sanitation facilities. The use of improved sanitation is slightly higher in male headed households at 62% as compared with female headed households at 60%.

Teso South constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 79%. This is almost three times Budalangi constituency, which has the lowest share of households using improved sanitation. Teso South is 18 percentage points above the county average of residents using improved sanitation. Marachi East ward has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 87%. This is four times Bunyala South ward, which has the lowest share of households using improved sanitation. Marachi East is 26 percentage points above the county average of residents using improved sanitation.