Household incomes in Bismarck trail those of 96% of U.S. towns
Only 6% stay in Bismarck for work; outside it, Farmington is the main destination (22%, 11 miles). Below the poverty line: 20.3% of residents; Missouri has 12.6%. Jobs and income earn Bismarck D−; getting around on foot earns it B−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Bismarck
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
Bismarck workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 54 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 461 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Bismarck’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Bismarck is better than 4% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Bismarck’s grade.
Unemployment (7.6%) is left out: Bismarck’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, Bismarck could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Near or far: the trip to work from Bismarck
About 33% 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.
The daily trip from Bismarck: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bismarck workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 532 commuters (the 8% 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 Bismarck by day
On a workday 432 residents head out to work, 29 work right here, and 224 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Bismarck on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.55 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 Bismarck work
Where Bismarck clocks in
22% of workers
4% 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.
What the 253 jobs in Bismarck are
253 jobs are based in Bismarck.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bismarck, 2013 → 2023: 270 → 253. 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 Bismarck’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Bismarck, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bismarck is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.2% across Missouri, on an EPA index of 6.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 577 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). 11.1% of Bismarck households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bismarck’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Bismarck compares with U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Loch Lloyd MO | 1,090 | $184K | 2.5% | 0.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 82 | LaBarque Creek MO | 1,457 | $133K | 1.1% | 1.7% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 106 | Fremont Hills MO | 1,098 | $171K | 3.9% | 1.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,437 | Westwood CA | 1,063 | $59K | 21.7% | 22.7% | 9% | D− |
| 4,438 | Gamerco NM | 1,176 | $49K | 52.0% | 0.0% | <1% | D− |
| 4,439 | Bismarck MO | 1,224 | $40K | 20.3% | 7.6% | 6% | D− |
| 4,440 | Rose Hill NC | 1,429 | $49K | 23.5% | 6.3% | 9% | D− |
| 4,441 | Bethesda OH | 1,179 | $36K | 21.8% | 2.8% | 2% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Bismarck, 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 Bismarck: questions
What is the median household income in Bismarck?
$40,250 (±$10,118) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bismarck?
20.3%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bismarck?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bismarck work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Farmington (22%, 11 mi), Park Hills (4%, 8 mi), Potosi (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bismarck walkable?
Bismarck is more walkable than 54% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bismarck without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bismarck, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bismarck
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.