Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Blackwater has 0.5 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Employers in Blackwater report 33 jobs; 63 of its residents have a job. Hardly any work in Blackwater itself; outside it, Columbia draws the most (24%, 36 miles). For 1% of workers, the job is at home, where Missouri as a whole has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Blackwater
On a workday 63 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 33 people come in from elsewhere.
About 160 people are in Blackwater on a workday afternoon, 16% 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.
Out of Blackwater to work: where people go
Where Blackwater clocks in
24% of workers
10% of workers
8% 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Blackwater
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Blackwater, 2013 → 2023: 31 → 33. 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 Blackwater’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting from Blackwater: about 30 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Blackwater workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 93 commuters (the 1% 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 far Blackwater’s workers travel
About 22% 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 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 Blackwater: questions
What is the median household income in Blackwater?
$66,389 (±$13,971) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Blackwater?
9.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Blackwater?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Blackwater work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (24%, 36 mi), Boonville (10%, 13 mi), Jefferson City (8%, 52 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Blackwater without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Blackwater, from the people who make the trip.
More of Blackwater
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.