Most of Cool Valley commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Household incomes here are lower than in 83% of U.S. towns. 179 jobs are based in Cool Valley for 438 working residents. For jobs and income Cool Valley is better than 34% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (A).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Cool Valley in brief
Most Cool Valley residents work close to home
72% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 5% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Cool Valley than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Cool Valley fell from 682 in 2013 to 179 in 2023, −74%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Cool Valley and St. Louis trade workers both ways
St. Louis is the top workplace for Cool Valley residents (23%) and also where the most people who work in Cool Valley come from (14% of its jobs). 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 438 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Cool Valley’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Cool Valley’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (28.8%, U.S. 12.5%).
Unemployment (6.7%) is left out: Cool Valley’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cool Valley could be anywhere from C to B.
Where in the region Cool Valley works
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 Cool Valley’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cool Valley, 2013 → 2023: 682 → 179. 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 Cool Valley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
23% of working residents work in St. Louis
Where Cool Valley clocks in
23% of workers
4% 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.
How a workday changes Cool Valley
On a workday 438 residents head out to work, none work right here, and 179 people come in from elsewhere.
About 750 people are in Cool Valley 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.
Time on the road from Cool Valley: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cool Valley workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 496 commuters (the 19% 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.
Cool Valley is easy on foot, hard by bus
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 614 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 54% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 65% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.5% of Cool Valley households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Cool Valley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cool Valley next to U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400: 1,584th of 3,133 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Loch Lloyd MO | 1,090 | $184K | 2.5% | 0.5% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Fremont Hills MO | 1,098 | $171K | 3.9% | 1.9% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Bel-Nor MO | 1,351 | $111K | 5.8% | 8.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,582 | Kirklin Township IN | 1,246 | $58K | 13.0% | 1.6% | 6% | C |
| 1,583 | Clay Township IN | 1,273 | $71K | 13.4% | 4.0% | <1% | C |
| 1,584 | Cool Valley MO | 1,005 | $54K | 28.8% | 6.7% | 0% | C |
| 1,585 | Aubbeenaubbee Township IN | 1,347 | $78K | 9.3% | 9.5% | 1% | C |
| 1,586 | Watterson Park KY | 1,031 | $40K | 17.2% | 15.2% | 5% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Cool Valley, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Next door to Cool Valley
The biggest share goes to Ferguson (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cool Valley workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cool Valley | – | C | A | 17 min | $53,560 |
| Normandy | under 3% | C | A+ | 19 min | $29,379 |
| Ferguson | 3% | C | A+ | 24 min | $47,524 |
| Bellerive Acres | under 3% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Berkeley | under 3% | C | A | 21 min | $44,265 |
Same-state neighbors only. Bellerive Acres: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cool Valley’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 Cool Valley: questions
What is the median household income in Cool Valley?
$53,560 (±$13,399) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cool Valley?
28.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cool Valley?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cool Valley work?
0% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (23%, 7 mi), Maryland Heights (8%, 9 mi), Creve Coeur (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cool Valley walkable?
Cool Valley is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 15.5 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cool Valley without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 54% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cool Valley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cool Valley
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.