Carterville has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.2 for each
There are 140 jobs in Carterville for 833 working residents. Carterville grades C for jobs and income and C for walkability. For 4% of workers, the job is at home (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Carterville, in brief
Carterville is a place people come home to
There are 140 jobs based in Carterville, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Carterville has about 1,200 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Carterville residents work close to home
69% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
38% of Carterville works in Joplin
314 working residents, 38%, have their main job in Joplin, 6 miles away. That’s far more as work in Carterville itself. 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; with 833 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Inside Carterville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Carterville is better than 26% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Carterville’s grade up (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (18.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (4.0%) is left out: Carterville’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Carterville could be anywhere from D to B.
Carterville quiets down on a workday
On a workday 829 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 136 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Carterville on a workday afternoon, 37% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Carterville
About 17% 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.
38% of working residents work in Joplin
Where Carterville clocks in
38% of workers
10% 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 kinds of work in Carterville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Carterville, 2013 → 2023: 190 → 140. 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 Carterville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Carterville’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Carterville workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 725 commuters (the 3% 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.
Few in Carterville walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Carterville is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of 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 751 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). 4.6% of Carterville households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Carterville’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Carterville ranks: 3,669th of 5,656 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 16 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 56 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,667 | Mount Carmel Township PA | 2,469 | $71K | 12.3% | 7.1% | 14% | C |
| 3,668 | Franklin Park FL | 1,688 | $38K | 45.8% | 0.0% | 0% | C |
| 3,669 | Carterville MO | 1,869 | $59K | 18.3% | 4.0% | <1% | C |
| 3,670 | Middletown VA | 1,471 | $60K | 14.6% | 1.1% | 2% | C |
| 3,671 | Dixfield ME | 2,396 | $71K | 14.0% | 4.0% | 9% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Carterville, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
The towns next door employ 11% of Carterville
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Carterville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carterville | – | C | C | 21 min | $58,849 |
| Webb City | 11% | C | C+ | 17 min | $65,469 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Webb City. Darker towns draw more of Carterville’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 Carterville: questions
What is the median household income in Carterville?
$58,849 (±$8,834) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Carterville?
18.3%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Carterville?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Carterville work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Joplin (38%, 6 mi), Webb City (11%, 2 mi), Carthage (10%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Carterville walkable?
Carterville is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Carterville without a car?
0% 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 Carterville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Carterville
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.