Photo: Americasroof · CC BY-SA 3.0Fewer people are out of work in Bethany (0.8%) than in 96% of U.S. towns
About one in three work in Bethany itself; outside it, Kansas City draws the most (8%, 84 miles). Bethany grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 90% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Bethany stands out on work
Bethany’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bethany is Kansas City, 84 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (97) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
42% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Commutes from Bethany are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 46 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Bethany
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bethany is better than 26% of U.S. towns, #162 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Bethany’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 7% of U.S. towns).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bethany could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Bethany’s commute, mile by mile
About 42% 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.
From Bethany, about 18 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bethany workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,136 commuters (the 15% 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.
Who works in Bethany, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 784 residents head out to work, 402 work right here, and 1,140 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Bethany on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 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.
The places Bethany commutes to
Where Bethany clocks in
8% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Bethany
1,542 jobs are based in Bethany.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bethany, 2013 → 2023: 1,553 → 1,542. 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 Bethany’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Bethany
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bethany is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #60 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Bethany near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,341 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). 7.6% of Bethany households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Bethany’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bethany next to U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000: 3,347th of 4,618 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,345 | Matoaca VA | 2,724 | $70K | 22.0% | 9.0% | <1% | C |
| 3,346 | Sissonville WV | 3,593 | $67K | 23.4% | 5.3% | 4% | C |
| 3,347 | Bethany MO | 2,956 | $48K | 17.1% | 0.8% | 34% | C |
| 3,348 | Cisco TX | 3,980 | $59K | 6.3% | 5.9% | 24% | C |
| 3,349 | Fairfield TX | 3,029 | $47K | 21.5% | 1.0% | 22% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Bethany, 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 Bethany: questions
What is the median household income in Bethany?
$48,375 (±$12,288) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bethany?
17.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bethany?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 15% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bethany work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (8%, 84 mi), St. Joseph (5%, 55 mi), Albany (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bethany walkable?
Bethany is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bethany without a car?
1% 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 Bethany, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bethany
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.