Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Households in Belle earn less than those in 81% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Belle are D for jobs and income and C for walkability. 21.8% of residents are in poverty, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. About one in ten work in Belle; the top destination outside it is Jefferson City (19%, 31 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Belle, in brief
Belle’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Belle is Jefferson City, 31 miles away as the crow flies. 19% of working residents (103) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Belle than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Belle fell from 456 in 2013 to 330 in 2023, −28%. 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 ↓
Belle workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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 542 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Belle gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Belle is better than 6% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Belle’s grade.
Unemployment (4.4%) is left out: Belle’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Belle could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How far Belle goes to work
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.
What work there is in Belle: 330 jobs
330 jobs are based in Belle.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Belle, 2013 → 2023: 456 → 330. 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 Belle’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 29 minutes each way for Belle’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Belle workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 488 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.
How many people are in Belle by day
On a workday 498 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 286 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Belle on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.61 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.
Where people from Belle work
Where Belle clocks in
19% of workers
7% of workers
7% 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.
For most of Belle, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Belle is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 536 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). 18.6% of Belle households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Belle’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900, Belle ranks 5,174th of 5,877 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Loch Lloyd MO | 1,090 | $184K | 2.5% | 0.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 59 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | LaBarque Creek MO | 1,457 | $133K | 1.1% | 1.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,172 | Westernport MD | 1,759 | $48K | 22.2% | 0.0% | 4% | D |
| 5,173 | Carson City MI | 1,137 | $44K | 15.7% | 5.0% | 5% | D |
| 5,174 | Belle MO | 1,379 | $55K | 21.8% | 4.4% | 8% | D |
| 5,175 | Altamont TN | 1,203 | $41K | 15.9% | 13.0% | 14% | D |
| 5,176 | Mount Hope WV | 1,234 | $34K | 32.3% | 14.6% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Belle, 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 Belle: questions
What is the median household income in Belle?
$55,192 (±$11,457) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Belle?
21.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Belle?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Belle work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jefferson City (19%, 31 mi), Owensville (7%, 13 mi), Rolla (7%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Belle walkable?
Belle is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Belle without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Belle, from the people who make the trip.
More of Belle
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.