Photo: Dave Herholz from St. Louis, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Households in Ballwin have higher incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Ballwin are A for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 4.8% of residents, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. Home is the office for 21% of workers, next to 13% for Missouri as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Ballwin apart
The better-paid jobs are outside Ballwin
70% of Ballwin residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 43% of the jobs based in Ballwin pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Ballwin draws workers from far and wide
The 6,246 jobs in Ballwin are filled from a wide area. Ballwin’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 30%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Home offices are common in Ballwin
21% of Ballwin workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Time on the road ↓
Many jobs in Ballwin pay little
28% of the jobs based in Ballwin pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 34% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
Why Ballwin gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ballwin is better than 94% of U.S. towns, #18 of 247 in Missouri. Household income is its strongest input ($124,626, U.S. $80,734); unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ballwin could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The 6,246 jobs based in Ballwin
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ballwin, 2013 → 2023: 5,427 → 6,246. 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 Ballwin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Ballwin’s working residents head each day
Where Ballwin clocks in
13% of workers
10% of workers
6% 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 26 minutes each way for Ballwin’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ballwin workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,731 commuters (the 21% 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.
A workday in Ballwin: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 13,631 residents head out to work, 500 work right here, and 5,746 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Ballwin on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.44 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The distance from Ballwin to work
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.
Most of Ballwin commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ballwin is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns, #158 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 16,059 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 20% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 48% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.3% of Ballwin households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ballwin’s commuters take a bus or train.
120th of 1,334: where Ballwin ranks among U.S. towns of 22,000 to 42,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Wildwood MO | 34,955 | $161K | 2.2% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Lake Oswego OR | 39,722 | $142K | 3.4% | 3.4% | 13% | A |
| 119 | Lafayette CA | 25,313 | $228K | 2.9% | 4.3% | 7% | A |
| 120 | Ballwin MO | 30,901 | $125K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| 121 | Westport CT | 28,301 | $250K | 3.2% | 4.1% | 16% | A |
| 122 | Tewksbury MA | 31,901 | $128K | 3.4% | 3.7% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Kirkwood MO | 29,331 | $121K | 5.3% | 3.1% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Webster Groves MO | 23,450 | $115K | 4.2% | 3.7% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,334 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Ballwin, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Ballwin and its neighbors: 16% work next door
The biggest share goes to Chesterfield (10%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ballwin workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballwin | – | A | B− | 26 min | $124,626 |
| Ellisville | 2% | A− | B | 28 min | $113,309 |
| Chesterfield | 10% | A+ | B | 22 min | $133,037 |
| Manchester | under 2% | A− | B− | 21 min | $97,801 |
| Clarkson Valley | under 2% | A+ | C | 22 min | $247,000 |
| Town and Country | 4% | A+ | B+ | 20 min | $232,534 |
| Winchester | under 2% | A | B− | 19 min | $87,917 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ballwin’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Ballwin: questions
What is the median household income in Ballwin?
$124,626 (±$8,097) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ballwin?
4.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ballwin?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ballwin work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (13%, 17 mi), Chesterfield (10%, 5 mi), Creve Coeur (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ballwin walkable?
Ballwin is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ballwin without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ballwin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ballwin
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.