Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Cuba trail those of 92% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 14.0% of residents (Missouri 12.6%). Jobs and income earn Cuba C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. 0% of workers have no commute at all, against 13% across Missouri.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Cuba in brief
Cuba is where the jobs are
Cuba has 2,302 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Cuba are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Cuba workers work from home
Only 0% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Cuba workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Cuba’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Cuba makes and builds things
36% of the jobs based in Cuba are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Cuba residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. 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.
The figures behind Cuba’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cuba is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #129 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Cuba’s grade up (0.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($45,916, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cuba could be anywhere from C to B−.
Who works in Cuba, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 975 residents head out to work, 373 work right here, and 1,929 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Cuba on a workday afternoon, 29% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
How long Cuba spends getting to work: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cuba workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,458 commuters (the 0% 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.
A place that makes things: 36% of Cuba’s jobs are in goods
2,302 jobs are based in Cuba.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cuba, 2013 → 2023: 2,307 → 2,302. 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 Cuba’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Cuba’s workforce comes from
Where Cuba clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Cuba
About 28% 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.
Most trips from Cuba start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cuba is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #103 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Cuba near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,458 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). 9.8% of Cuba households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cuba’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cuba next to U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400: 2,828th of 4,453 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 28 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 167 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,826 | Bowdoinham ME | 3,210 | $108K | 13.5% | 13.0% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,827 | West Hill OH | 2,425 | $40K | 14.5% | 3.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 2,828 | Cuba MO | 3,288 | $46K | 14.0% | 0.6% | 28% | C+ |
| 2,829 | Moscow Mills MO | 4,388 | $73K | 10.1% | 6.7% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,830 | Wills Point TX | 4,033 | $72K | 12.3% | 5.1% | 20% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Cuba, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
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 Cuba: questions
What is the median household income in Cuba?
$45,916 (±$9,386) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cuba?
14.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cuba?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 0% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cuba work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sullivan (7%, 17 mi), Rolla (7%, 21 mi), St. James (4%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cuba walkable?
Cuba is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cuba without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cuba, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cuba
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.