Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Alton, MO
The trip to work takes 16 minutes on average, where Missouri has 24 and the U.S. 26. 5% of workers have no commute at all; Missouri has 13%. About one in five work in Alton; the top destination outside it is West Plains (17%, 27 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Alton apart on work
Alton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Alton is West Plains, 27 miles away as the crow flies. 17% of working residents (37) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Alton than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Alton fell from 630 in 2013 to 346 in 2023, −45%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Alton are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 224 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How far it is to work from Alton
About 27% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
In Alton, services account for most jobs
346 jobs are based in Alton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alton, 2013 → 2023: 630 → 346. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 16 minutes each way for Alton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alton workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 267 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
How many people are in Alton by day
On a workday 184 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 306 people come in from elsewhere.
About 820 people are in Alton on a workday afternoon, 17% more than live here.
1.5 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where the people who work in Alton live
Where Alton clocks in
17% of workers
5% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Alton: questions
What is the median household income in Alton?
$50,208 (±$7,828) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alton?
16.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alton?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alton work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are West Plains (17%, 27 mi), Thayer (5%, 14 mi), Kansas City (3%, 241 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Alton without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alton
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.