Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in East Prairie trail those of 98% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 21.2%, where Missouri as a whole has 12.6%. East Prairie grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in seven work in East Prairie; the top destination outside it is Sikeston (19%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in East Prairie: the gist
Fewer jobs are based in East Prairie than ten years ago
Jobs counted in East Prairie fell from 982 in 2014 to 509 in 2024, −48%. 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 ↓
Fewer than half of East Prairie workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of East Prairie’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 16% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Why East Prairie gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, East Prairie is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #201 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds East Prairie’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($34,637, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, East Prairie could be anywhere from D− to C.
Inside East Prairie’s 509 jobs
509 jobs are based in East Prairie.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in East Prairie, 2014 → 2024: 982 → 509. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs East Prairie’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves East Prairie for work, and who comes in
On a workday 985 residents head out to work, 155 work right here, and 354 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in East Prairie on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.
0.45 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
The places East Prairie commutes to
Where East Prairie clocks in
19% of workers
9% of workers
5% 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.
The daily trip from East Prairie: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of East Prairie workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,051 commuters (the 7% 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.
How far East Prairie’s workers travel
About 17% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how East Prairie gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, East Prairie is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #209 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,127 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). 20.4% of East Prairie households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of East Prairie’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800, East Prairie ranks 3,909th of 4,703 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 51 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 159 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,907 | Pepeekeo HI | 2,056 | $71K | 21.7% | 9.1% | 2% | C− |
| 3,908 | Encantada-Ranchito-El Calaboz TX | 2,552 | $46K | 25.3% | 0.0% | 0% | C− |
| 3,909 | East Prairie MO | 2,841 | $35K | 21.2% | 3.2% | 14% | C− |
| 3,910 | Marietta OK | 2,982 | $52K | 20.6% | 4.9% | 12% | C− |
| 3,911 | McAdoo PA | 2,474 | $46K | 20.4% | 6.7% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 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 East Prairie, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Work in the towns next to East Prairie
The biggest share goes to Whiting (1%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | East Prairie workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Prairie | – | C− | C+ | 21 min | $34,637 |
| Whiting | 1% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Whiting: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of East Prairie’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 2024, 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 East Prairie: questions
What is the median household income in East Prairie?
$34,637 (±$10,504) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in East Prairie?
21.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from East Prairie?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in East Prairie work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sikeston (19%, 13 mi), Charleston (9%, 10 mi), Cape Girardeau (5%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is East Prairie walkable?
East Prairie is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around East Prairie without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from East Prairie, from the people who make the trip.
More of East Prairie
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.