St. Paul Catholic Church · Photo: Jim Roberts · CC BY-SA 4.0Most of Center commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
92 jobs are based in Center for 233 working residents. Hardly any work in Center itself; outside it, Hannibal draws the most (40%, 15 miles). For 3% of workers, the job is at home, against 13% across Missouri.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Center stands out on work
40% of Center works in Hannibal
93 working residents, 40%, have their main job in Hannibal, 15 miles away. That’s far more as work in Center itself. The commute map ↓
Few Center workers work from home
Only 3% 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; with 233 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The towns that employ Center’s residents
Where Center clocks in
40% of workers
6% 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.
Commuting from Center: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Center workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 188 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.
Center on a workday afternoon
On a workday 232 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 91 people come in from elsewhere.
About 400 people are in Center on a workday afternoon, 26% 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.
The kinds of work in Center
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Center, 2013 → 2023: 114 → 92. 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 Center’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Center goes to work
About 27% 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.
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 Center: questions
What is the median household income in Center?
$59,375 (±$12,815) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Center?
14.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Center?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Center work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hannibal (40%, 15 mi), Quincy (6%, 30 mi), Columbia (3%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Center without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Center, from the people who make the trip.
More of Center
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.