Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Household incomes in Bel-Ridge trail those of 97% of U.S. towns
2% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. 17.7% of residents live below the poverty line; Missouri has 12.6%. Only 2% stay in Bel-Ridge for work; outside it, St. Louis is the main destination (20%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bel-Ridge: the figures worth knowing
Most Bel-Ridge residents work close to home
73% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about three in four. Only 5% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Bel-Ridge and St. Louis trade workers both ways
St. Louis is the top workplace for Bel-Ridge residents (20%) and also where the most people who work in Bel-Ridge come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The jobs in Bel-Ridge pay better than its residents’ jobs
65% of the jobs based in Bel-Ridge pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 40% of the jobs Bel-Ridge residents hold. 98% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Bel-Ridge. 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 818 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Bel-Ridge earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bel-Ridge is better than 21% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Bel-Ridge’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (15.9%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bel-Ridge could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Half of Bel-Ridge commutes less than 7 miles
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.
The places Bel-Ridge commutes to
Where Bel-Ridge clocks in
20% 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.
50% of the jobs in Bel-Ridge make or build things
1,026 jobs are based in Bel-Ridge.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bel-Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 1,228 → 1,026. 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 Bel-Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Bel-Ridge for work, and who comes in
On a workday 800 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 1,008 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Bel-Ridge on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Bel-Ridge’s commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bel-Ridge workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 942 commuters (the 2% 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.
Bel-Ridge is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 965 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 2% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.0 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 94% 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). 20.1% of Bel-Ridge households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 9% of Bel-Ridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bel-Ridge is 4,176th of 5,793 U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 54 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 55 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,174 | Dayton Township MI | 1,901 | $70K | 12.0% | 8.7% | 1% | C− |
| 4,175 | Akron CO | 1,725 | $57K | 7.5% | 1.9% | 32% | C− |
| 4,176 | Bel-Ridge MO | 2,070 | $38K | 17.7% | 15.9% | 2% | C− |
| 4,177 | East Newark NJ | 2,574 | $49K | 40.6% | 9.3% | 1% | C− |
| 4,178 | McEwen TN | 1,790 | $61K | 9.6% | 16.6% | 7% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Bel-Ridge, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Bel-Ridge and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Berkeley (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Bel-Ridge’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 Bel-Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Bel-Ridge?
$38,049 (±$9,012) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bel-Ridge?
17.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bel-Ridge?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bel-Ridge work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (20%, 7 mi), Maryland Heights (7%, 8 mi), Hazelwood (3%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bel-Ridge walkable?
Bel-Ridge is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 12.9 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bel-Ridge without a car?
9% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. 2% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bel-Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bel-Ridge
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.