Photo: Vsmith · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Ava earn less than those in 94% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 21.7% of residents, next to 12.6% across Missouri. The two grades for Ava are D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in three work in Ava; the top destination outside it is Springfield (12%, 38 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ava at work: what stands out
Ava is where the jobs are
Ava has 1,928 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Ava’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ava is Springfield, 38 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (110) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Ava workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Ava’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 19% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 912 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Ava gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ava is better than 5% of U.S. towns, #238 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Ava’s grade up (5.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($42,500, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ava could be anywhere from D− to C.
Ava fills up on a workday
On a workday 601 residents head out to work, 311 work right here, and 1,617 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Ava on a workday afternoon, 31% more than live here.
2.1 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.
Ava’s commute, mile by mile
About 21% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 29% of the jobs in Ava
1,928 jobs are based in Ava.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ava, 2013 → 2023: 1,446 → 1,928. 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 Ava’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Ava, and from where
Where Ava clocks in
12% of workers
4% 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.
About 19 minutes each way for Ava’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ava workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 966 commuters (the 9% 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.
The commute in Ava is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ava is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns, #203 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.2% across Missouri.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,062 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 7.8% of Ava households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ava’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ava and other U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,210 | Loogootee IN | 2,633 | $50K | 26.4% | 8.5% | 16% | D |
| 4,211 | Charlevoix MI | 2,325 | $48K | 24.8% | 7.1% | 29% | D |
| 4,212 | Ava MO | 3,231 | $43K | 21.7% | 5.7% | 34% | D |
| 4,213 | Windsor NC | 3,469 | $41K | 15.5% | 13.2% | 12% | D |
| 4,214 | Tishomingo OK | 3,123 | $40K | 36.7% | 6.2% | 23% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Ava, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
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 Ava: questions
What is the median household income in Ava?
$42,500 (±$11,889) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ava?
21.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ava?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ava work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (12%, 38 mi), Mansfield (4%, 12 mi), Lebanon (3%, 50 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ava walkable?
Ava is more walkable than 37% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ava without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ava, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ava
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.