Photo: Tony Webster · CC BY-SA 2.0There are 2.7 jobs in Branson for every working resident, and 13,359 people commute in
Household incomes here are lower than in 85% of U.S. towns. 16,069 jobs are based in Branson; 6,050 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Branson D; getting around on foot earns it A−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Branson in brief
Branson is where the jobs are
Branson has 16,069 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 23,000 people are in town, 78% more than the 13,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Branson workers earn over $40,000 a year
34% of Branson’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 21% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Branson’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Branson is Springfield, 39 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (693) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Branson draws workers from far and wide
The 16,069 jobs in Branson are filled from a wide area. Branson’s own residents hold 17% and the ten next-biggest home towns 18%; the other 65% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Branson 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.
Branson’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Branson is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #204 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Branson’s grade up (ahead of 40% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (20.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Branson could be anywhere from D to C.
How many people are in Branson by day
On a workday 3,340 residents head out to work and 2,710 work right here.
About 23,000 people are in Branson on a workday afternoon, 78% more than live here.
2.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Services make up most of the work in Branson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Branson, 2013 → 2023: 16,880 → 16,069. 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 Branson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Branson to work
About 18% 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 into Branson
Where Branson clocks in
11% 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.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Missouri
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Branson workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,247 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.
Branson is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Branson is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #62 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Branson 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 5,713 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). 5.5% of Branson households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Branson’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000, and where Branson sits
| # | 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 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,158 | Coloma Township IL | 10,277 | $52K | 22.3% | 5.8% | 12% | D |
| 2,159 | Mill Township OH | 9,639 | $54K | 22.2% | 7.0% | 21% | D |
| 2,160 | Branson MO | 12,921 | $52K | 20.2% | 5.8% | 45% | D |
| 2,161 | Coos Bay OR | 15,686 | $57K | 15.3% | 6.0% | 41% | D |
| 2,162 | Reidsville NC | 14,692 | $43K | 21.1% | 6.4% | 17% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Branson, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Branson and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Hollister (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Branson’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 Branson: questions
What is the median household income in Branson?
$51,978 (±$3,748) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Branson?
20.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Branson?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Branson work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Springfield (11%, 39 mi), Hollister (3%, 4 mi), Joplin (2%, 74 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Branson walkable?
Branson 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 Branson without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Branson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Branson
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.