Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Eldon’s household incomes are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income C−: better than 20% of U.S. towns on income, poverty, unemployment and job access · #183 of 247 in Missouri.
Walkability B+: more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns · #96 of 247 in Missouri.
Working residents average 21 minutes each way (Missouri 24, U.S. 26). About one in five work in Eldon; the top destination outside it is Jefferson City (15%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Eldon
What’s behind Eldon’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Eldon is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #183 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Eldon’s grade up (4.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($41,684, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Eldon could be anywhere from D to B−.
Half of Eldon commutes less than 22 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 23% 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.
Eldon fills up on a workday
On a workday 1,557 residents head out to work, 368 work right here, and 2,058 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,300 people are in Eldon on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.26 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.
15% of working residents work in Jefferson City
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Eldon clocks in
15% of workers
9% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 2,426 jobs in Eldon are
2,426 jobs are based in Eldon. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Eldon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eldon, 2013 → 2023: 2,449 → 2,426. 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.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Missouri
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eldon workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,930 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Eldon start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Eldon is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #96 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% 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 2,062 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). 8.3% of Eldon households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Eldon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Eldon is 3,232nd of 3,946 U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,500 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Eldon, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Greenwood MO | 6,315 | $107K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,230 | Chipley FL | 3,804 | $46K | 12.7% | 3.9% | 22% | C− |
| 3,231 | Algonac MI | 4,109 | $57K | 14.5% | 5.7% | 5% | C− |
| 3,232 | Eldon MO | 4,785 | $42K | 12.8% | 4.6% | 19% | C− |
| 3,233 | Cranberry Township PA | 6,241 | $61K | 12.8% | 5.7% | 20% | C− |
| 3,234 | Dunean SC | 3,668 | $49K | 20.5% | 9.7% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,946 | 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.
Eldon and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Aurora Springs (3%). Darker towns draw more of Eldon’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Eldon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eldon | – | C− | B+ | 21 min | $41,684 |
| Aurora Springs | 3% | — | — | 24 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Aurora Springs: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Eldon: questions
What is the median household income in Eldon?
$41,684 (±$8,419) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eldon?
12.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eldon?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eldon work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jefferson City (15%, 26 mi), Osage Beach (9%, 15 mi), Lake Ozark (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Eldon walkable?
Eldon is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Eldon without a car?
0% 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 Eldon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eldon
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.