Photo: Onegentlemanofverona · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Des Peres are among the highest of any U.S. town
Household incomes here are among the highest in the country. 2.0% of residents are in poverty, where Missouri as a whole has 12.6%. The two grades for Des Peres are A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Des Peres: the gist
Des Peres fills up on a workday
Des Peres has 14,368 jobs, 3.9 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 20,000 people are in town, more than double the 9,100 who live here. Day and night ↓
Des Peres has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Des Peres went from 7,485 in 2013 to 14,368 in 2023, +92%. The jobs ↓
Des Peres draws workers from far and wide
The 14,368 jobs in Des Peres are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 31%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Des Peres 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, and quicker than any town next door (20 to 25 minutes). Time on the road ↓
Most Des Peres residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. Only 6% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
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.
The figures behind Des Peres’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Des Peres is among the top U.S. towns, #2 of 247 in Missouri. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Des Peres’ grade. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment and job access by car.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Des Peres stays A+.
The workday shuffle in and out of Des Peres
On a workday 3,484 residents head out to work, 191 work right here, and 14,177 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Des Peres on a workday afternoon, 117% more than live here.
3.9 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Des Peres
14,368 jobs are based in Des Peres.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Des Peres, 2013 → 2023: 7,485 → 14,368. 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 Des Peres’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Des Peres, and from where
Where Des Peres clocks in
17% of workers
7% of workers
6% 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 16 minutes to work from Des Peres
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Des Peres workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,328 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.
Des Peres’ commute, mile by mile
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 of Des Peres commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Des Peres is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #134 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.2% 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 4,086 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 18% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 67% 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). 1.3% of Des Peres households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Des Peres’ commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,855 U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,300, Des Peres comes 1st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 64 | Parkville MO | 9,093 | $171K | 2.0% | 2.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,855 | 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 Des Peres, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Work in the towns next to Des Peres
The biggest share goes to Kirkwood (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Des Peres workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Des Peres | – | A+ | B | 16 min | $224,327 |
| Kirkwood | 4% | A | A− | 20 min | $121,270 |
| Town and Country | 4% | A+ | B+ | 20 min | $232,534 |
| Frontenac | under 2% | A+ | C+ | 25 min | $233,425 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Des Peres’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 Des Peres: questions
What is the median household income in Des Peres?
$224,327 (±$37,518) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Des Peres?
2.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Des Peres?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Des Peres work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (17%, 11 mi), Chesterfield (7%, 8 mi), Clayton (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Des Peres walkable?
Des Peres is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Des Peres without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Des Peres, from the people who make the trip.
More of Des Peres
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.