Photo: SamuelNelsonGISP · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Cooper Township earn less than those in 84% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 23.5% of residents, against 12.6% across Missouri. For jobs and income Cooper Township is better than 3% of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (B). About one in seven stay in Cooper Township for work; outside it, St. Joseph is the main destination (18%, 35 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Cooper Township in brief
Cooper Township’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cooper Township is St. Joseph, 35 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (130) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
33% 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 ↓
Many jobs in Cooper Township pay little
26% of the jobs based in Cooper Township pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. 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; with 738 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Cooper Township
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Cooper Township’s grade.
Unemployment (4.1%) is left out: Cooper Township’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, Cooper Township could be anywhere from D− to C−.
How far Cooper Township’s workers travel
About 33% 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.
Jobs in Cooper Township: what the 562 are
562 jobs are based in Cooper Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cooper Township, 2013 → 2023: 662 → 562. 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 Cooper Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In and out of Cooper Township on a workday
On a workday 623 residents head out to work, 115 work right here, and 447 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Cooper Township on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.76 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.
Where Cooper Township goes to work
Where Cooper Township clocks in
18% of workers
9% 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.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Cooper Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cooper Township workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 674 commuters (the 13% 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.
Driving is how Cooper Township gets around
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.2% across Missouri, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 773 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). 8.5% of Cooper Township households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 5% of Cooper Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cooper Township and other U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 15 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 56 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 57 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,761 | Stratford OK | 1,437 | $41K | 26.5% | 7.1% | 10% | D− |
| 5,762 | Troy PA | 1,227 | $51K | 29.7% | 1.7% | 15% | D− |
| 5,763 | Cooper Township MO | 1,784 | $53K | 23.5% | 4.1% | 16% | D− |
| 5,764 | Grand Ronde OR | 1,549 | $53K | 24.8% | 4.0% | 25% | D− |
| 5,765 | Georgetown GA | 2,254 | $40K | 15.7% | 28.6% | 8% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | 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 Cooper Township, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
How Cooper Township compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Huggins Township (1%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cooper Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper Township | – | D− | B | 19 min | $53,173 |
| Athens Township | under 2% | C− | B− | 19 min | $49,250 |
| Huggins Township | 1% | — | — | 9 min | — |
| Jackson Township | 1% | D | A− | 29 min | $57,708 |
| Miller Township | under 2% | — | — | 37 min | — |
| Wilson Township | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Washington Township | under 2% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Jefferson Township | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Huggins Township, Miller Township, Wilson Township, Washington Township and Jefferson Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cooper Township’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 Cooper Township: questions
What is the median household income in Cooper Township?
$53,173 (±$24,257) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cooper Township?
23.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cooper Township?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cooper Township work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Joseph (18%, 35 mi), Stanberry (14%, 2 mi), Kansas City (9%, 75 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cooper Township walkable?
Cooper Township is more walkable than 64% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cooper Township without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cooper Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cooper Township
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.