Carl Junction has lower unemployment (0.6%) than 97% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Carl Junction B+; getting around on foot earns it C. About one in ten work in Carl Junction; the top destination outside it is Joplin (41%, 7 miles). The average commute takes 23 minutes each way, where Missouri has 24 and the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Carl Junction: the figures worth knowing
41% of Carl Junction works in Joplin
1,442 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Joplin, 6.6 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Carl Junction itself. The commute map ↓
Nearly all the work in Carl Junction is services
90% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 1% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Most Carl Junction residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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.
Carl Junction’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Carl Junction is better than 73% of U.S. towns, #65 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Carl Junction’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 47% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Carl Junction could be anywhere from B to A.
Where people from Carl Junction work
Where Carl Junction clocks in
41% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 Carl Junction
1,108 jobs are based in Carl Junction.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carl Junction, 2013 → 2023: 922 → 1,108. 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 Carl Junction’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Carl Junction
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.
Who commutes out of Carl Junction, and who commutes in
On a workday 3,235 residents head out to work, 325 work right here, and 783 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Carl Junction on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.31 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
Getting to work from Carl Junction takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carl Junction workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,813 commuters (the 9% 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.
Getting around Carl Junction: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carl Junction is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #223 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Carl Junction 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 4,187 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). 3.0% of Carl Junction households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carl Junction’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Carl Junction is 1,043rd among 3,015 U.S. towns of 5,900 to 11,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,041 | Monitor Township MI | 10,597 | $77K | 5.9% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| 1,042 | Lafayette WI | 6,430 | $102K | 2.7% | 4.9% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,043 | Carl Junction MO | 8,484 | $83K | 8.4% | 0.6% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,044 | Geneseo NY | 10,437 | $66K | 24.8% | 7.6% | 14% | B+ |
| 1,045 | South Monrovia Island CA | 6,830 | $104K | 7.2% | 6.9% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,015 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Carl Junction, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Carl Junction and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Airport Drive (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carl Junction workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carl Junction | – | B+ | C | 23 min | $82,879 |
| Airport Drive | 1% | — | — | 15 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Airport Drive: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Carl Junction’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 Carl Junction: questions
What is the median household income in Carl Junction?
$82,879 (±$11,490) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carl Junction?
8.4%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carl Junction?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carl Junction work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joplin (41%, 7 mi), Springfield (5%, 69 mi), Carthage (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carl Junction walkable?
Carl Junction is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carl Junction 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 Carl Junction, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carl Junction
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.