Photo: en:User:Wroller; retouched by Kbh3rd · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Bolivar have lower incomes than those in 88% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 18.8%, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. Jobs and income earn Bolivar C−; getting around on foot earns it B+. About one in four work in Bolivar itself; outside it, Springfield draws the most (24%, 29 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bolivar, in a few figures
Bolivar’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Bolivar is Springfield, 29 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (1,082) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Bolivar draws workers from far and wide
The 6,771 jobs in Bolivar are filled from a wide area. Bolivar’s own residents hold 19% and the ten next-biggest home towns 12%; the other 69% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Inside Bolivar’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bolivar is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #195 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Bolivar’s grade up (4.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,622, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bolivar could be anywhere from D to C+.
How far Bolivar’s workers travel
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.
Where Bolivar’s working residents head each day
Where Bolivar clocks in
24% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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 daily flow of workers through Bolivar
On a workday 3,307 residents head out to work, 1,278 work right here, and 5,493 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Bolivar on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 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.
Inside Bolivar’s 6,771 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bolivar, 2013 → 2023: 5,215 → 6,771. 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 Bolivar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Bolivar spends getting to work: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bolivar workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,453 commuters (the 10% 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.
Driving is how Bolivar gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bolivar is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #85 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Bolivar 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 4,953 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). 5.1% of Bolivar households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Bolivar’s commuters take a bus or train.
Bolivar next to U.S. towns of 8,000 to 16,000: 2,396th of 2,695 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,394 | Fort Morgan CO | 11,841 | $64K | 16.0% | 6.4% | 46% | C− |
| 2,395 | Niles MI | 11,665 | $51K | 17.8% | 10.8% | 13% | C− |
| 2,396 | Bolivar MO | 11,994 | $50K | 18.8% | 4.7% | 28% | C− |
| 2,397 | Fulton MO | 12,853 | $51K | 13.9% | 9.5% | 32% | C− |
| 2,398 | Lewisburg TN | 13,517 | $48K | 19.9% | 5.5% | 30% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,695 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Bolivar, 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 Bolivar: questions
What is the median household income in Bolivar?
$49,622 (±$8,747) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bolivar?
18.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bolivar?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bolivar work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (24%, 29 mi), Kansas City (4%, 122 mi), Lebanon (2%, 42 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Bolivar walkable?
Bolivar is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bolivar without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bolivar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bolivar
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.