Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Most of Black Jack commutes out: there are 0.3 jobs for every working resident
The two grades for Black Jack are B+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. There are 822 jobs in Black Jack; 2,694 of its residents have a job. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 2.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 10.8 in St. Louis.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Black Jack apart on work
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Black Jack
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Black Jack is better than 70% of U.S. towns, #71 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Black Jack’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.0%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Black Jack could be anywhere from C+ to A+.
Getting to work from Black Jack takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Black Jack workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,167 commuters (the 25% 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.
In and out of Black Jack on a workday
On a workday 2,672 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 800 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,700 people are in Black Jack on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in St. Louis
Where Black Jack clocks in
22% 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 Black Jack
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Black Jack, 2013 → 2023: 1,004 → 822. 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 Black Jack’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Black Jack, by distance
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.
In Black Jack, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Black Jack is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #61 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.7% 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 2,888 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 77% 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 2.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 71% 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). 4.4% of Black Jack households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Black Jack’s commuters take a bus or train.
Black Jack next to U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,800: 1,141st of 3,218 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Cottleville MO | 6,717 | $131K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Greenwood MO | 6,315 | $107K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,139 | Woodlawn MD | 7,750 | $93K | 5.3% | 10.9% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,140 | Doney Park AZ | 6,253 | $105K | 6.1% | 2.6% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,141 | Black Jack MO | 6,547 | $78K | 5.0% | 6.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,142 | Great Neck Plaza NY | 7,889 | $92K | 8.6% | 6.2% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,143 | Unionville NC | 7,322 | $96K | 9.4% | 4.1% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,218 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Black Jack, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
The towns around Black Jack
The biggest share goes to Florissant (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Black Jack workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Jack | – | B+ | A− | 28 min | $78,331 |
| Old Jamestown | under 3% | B+ | B | 29 min | $99,521 |
| Florissant | 3% | B | A− | 26 min | $65,318 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Black Jack’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 Black Jack: questions
What is the median household income in Black Jack?
$78,331 (±$14,662) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Black Jack?
5.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Black Jack?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 25% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Black Jack work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (22%, 11 mi), Maryland Heights (5%, 13 mi), Clayton (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Black Jack walkable?
Black Jack is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Black Jack without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Black Jack, from the people who make the trip.
More of Black Jack
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.