Photo: Mitch Harden · CC BY-SA 2.0Household incomes in Cottleville top those of 92% of U.S. towns
Only 2% stay in Cottleville for work; outside it, O'Fallon is the main destination (9%, 4 miles). Poverty touches 2.0% of residents, next to 12.6% for Missouri as a whole. Jobs and income earn Cottleville A+; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Cottleville, in brief
Jobs in Cottleville have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Cottleville went from 1,149 in 2013 to 3,317 in 2023, +189%. The jobs ↓
Cottleville trades workers with the towns around it
Cottleville has about as many jobs (3,317) as working residents (2,952), but they are mostly different people: 2,888 residents leave for work each day while 3,253 people come in. Only 2% of the jobs in Cottleville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Cottleville
70% of Cottleville residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 41% of the jobs based in Cottleville pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 98% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Cottleville pay little
29% of the jobs based in Cottleville pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 36% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Nearly all the work in Cottleville is services
86% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 4% are in factories, building or farms. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Cottleville: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cottleville is better than 98% of U.S. towns, #9 of 247 in Missouri. The poverty rate is its strongest input; unemployment ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (2.3%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cottleville could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Cottleville
3,317 jobs are based in Cottleville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cottleville, 2013 → 2023: 1,149 → 3,317. 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 Cottleville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Cottleville, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,888 residents head out to work, 64 work right here, and 3,253 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.12 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 the trip to work from Cottleville ends
Where Cottleville clocks in
9% of workers
9% of workers
7% 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.
About 23 minutes each way for Cottleville’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cottleville workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,061 commuters (the 14% 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.
Miles to work from Cottleville
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.
In Cottleville, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cottleville is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns, #141 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 3,548 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). 5.8% of Cottleville households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cottleville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cottleville places 81st of 3,253 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,700 to 9,100
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Parkville MO | 9,093 | $171K | 2.0% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 79 | Moorefield VA | 6,123 | $205K | 2.8% | 3.0% | 1% | A+ |
| 80 | Glencoe IL | 8,724 | $249K | 2.1% | 3.6% | 4% | A+ |
| 81 | Cottleville MO | 6,717 | $131K | 2.0% | 2.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 82 | West Bountiful UT | 5,931 | $135K | 3.7% | 1.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 83 | Georgetown MA | 8,577 | $152K | 3.8% | 1.7% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,253 | 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 Cottleville, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
18% of Cottleville works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cottleville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cottleville | – | A+ | B | 23 min | $131,310 |
| St. Peters | 9% | A | B− | 23 min | $91,637 |
| O'Fallon | 9% | A | B− | 26 min | $110,443 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to St. Peters. Darker towns draw more of Cottleville’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 Cottleville: questions
What is the median household income in Cottleville?
$131,310 (±$28,368) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cottleville?
2.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cottleville?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cottleville work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are O'Fallon (9%, 4 mi), St. Peters (9%, 4 mi), Chesterfield (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cottleville walkable?
Cottleville is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cottleville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cottleville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cottleville
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.