Photo: Keith Snyder · CC BY-SA 4.0Butler’s household incomes are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Butler is better than 3% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (C+). The poverty rate is 24.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri. Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers; Missouri has 13%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Butler
Butler trades workers with the towns around it
Butler has about as many jobs (1,756) as working residents (1,525), but they are mostly different people: 1,066 residents leave for work each day while 1,297 people come in. Only 26% of the jobs in Butler are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Butler workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Butler workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Butler’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 four measures behind Butler’s grade
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Butler’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Butler could be anywhere from D− to D.
The workday shuffle in and out of Butler
On a workday 1,066 residents head out to work, 459 work right here, and 1,297 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.15 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.
Commuting from Butler: about 30 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Butler workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,493 commuters (the 5% 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 Butler’s workers travel
About 34% 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 kinds of work in Butler
1,756 jobs are based in Butler.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Butler, 2013 → 2023: 1,931 → 1,756. 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 Butler’s own residents hold wherever they work.
7% of working residents work in Harrisonville
Where Butler clocks in
7% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
Getting around Butler: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,577 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). 12.8% of Butler households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Butler’s commuters take a bus or train.
Butler next to U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 183 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 236 | Weldon Spring MO | 5,301 | $159K | 0.7% | 4.2% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,953 | Lakeland GA | 3,062 | $31K | 44.1% | 0.8% | 15% | D− |
| 3,954 | Pelham GA | 3,359 | $39K | 22.9% | 10.5% | 11% | D− |
| 3,955 | Butler MO | 4,317 | $42K | 24.7% | 10.1% | 30% | D− |
| 3,956 | Mullins SC | 3,838 | $35K | 38.3% | 10.1% | 11% | D− |
| 3,957 | Cheraw SC | 4,921 | $27K | 37.0% | 11.8% | 30% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | 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 Butler, 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 Butler: questions
What is the median household income in Butler?
$42,151 (±$5,938) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Butler?
24.7%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Butler?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Butler work?
30% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Harrisonville (7%, 27 mi), Springfield (4%, 93 mi), Kansas City (3%, 61 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Butler walkable?
Butler is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 9.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Butler without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Butler, from the people who make the trip.
More of Butler
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.