Households in Brookfield have lower incomes than those in 84% of U.S. towns
Brookfield grades C− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Below the poverty line: 14.3% of residents, where Missouri as a whole has 12.6%. 4% of workers have no commute at all, against 13% across Missouri.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Brookfield: the figures worth knowing
Commutes from Brookfield are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Brookfield workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
The figures behind Brookfield’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brookfield is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #174 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Brookfield’s grade up (3.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 13% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brookfield could be anywhere from D to B−.
About 14 minutes to work from Brookfield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brookfield workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,892 commuters (the 4% 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 a workday changes Brookfield
On a workday 916 residents head out to work, 711 work right here, and 1,439 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,600 people are in Brookfield on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.32 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.
8% of working residents work in Marceline
Where Brookfield clocks in
8% 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.
Jobs in Brookfield: what the 2,150 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brookfield, 2013 → 2023: 1,977 → 2,150. 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 Brookfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Brookfield
About 26% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Brookfield
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Brookfield is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #58 of 247 in Missouri. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.2% across Missouri, on an EPA index of 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,967 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). 11.7% of Brookfield households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brookfield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Brookfield is 3,126th among 4,023 U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 179 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 232 | Weldon Spring MO | 5,301 | $159K | 0.7% | 4.2% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,124 | Midfield AL | 4,906 | $53K | 24.6% | 7.2% | 2% | C− |
| 3,125 | Vienna GA | 2,961 | $58K | 13.2% | 4.1% | 20% | C− |
| 3,126 | Brookfield MO | 4,083 | $53K | 14.3% | 3.1% | 44% | C− |
| 3,127 | Green Island NY | 2,966 | $59K | 20.6% | 10.4% | 8% | C− |
| 3,128 | Taft TX | 2,939 | $73K | 21.3% | 9.1% | 10% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,023 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Brookfield, 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 Brookfield: questions
What is the median household income in Brookfield?
$53,000 (±$11,762) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brookfield?
14.3%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brookfield?
14 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brookfield work?
44% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marceline (8%, 8 mi), Chillicothe (6%, 25 mi), Columbia (2%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brookfield walkable?
Brookfield is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brookfield without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brookfield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brookfield
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.