Photo: Americasroof · CC BY-SA 3.0At 5.0%, unemployment in Excelsior Springs is higher than in 61% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 22 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. The two grades for Excelsior Springs are C+ for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. About one in five work in Excelsior Springs itself; outside it, Kansas City draws the most (23%, 22 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Excelsior Springs and work: the main findings
Excelsior Springs trades workers with the towns around it
Excelsior Springs has about as many jobs (4,334) as working residents (4,904), but they are mostly different people: 4,033 residents leave for work each day while 3,463 people come in. Only 20% of the jobs in Excelsior Springs are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Excelsior Springs’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Excelsior Springs is Kansas City, 22 miles away as the crow flies. 23% of working residents (1,130) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Inside Excelsior Springs’ Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Excelsior Springs is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #116 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Excelsior Springs’ grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Excelsior Springs could be anywhere from C− to B+.
The daily flow of workers through Excelsior Springs
On a workday 4,033 residents head out to work, 871 work right here, and 3,463 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 (0.88 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
How far Excelsior Springs’ workers travel
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.
Where people from Excelsior Springs work
Where Excelsior Springs clocks in
23% of workers
10% 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.
What Excelsior Springs’ employers do
4,334 jobs are based in Excelsior Springs.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Excelsior Springs, 2014 → 2024: 4,498 → 4,334. 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 Excelsior Springs’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Excelsior Springs’ commute takes about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Excelsior Springs workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,835 commuters (the 8% 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.
For most of Excelsior Springs, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Excelsior Springs is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns, #83 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Excelsior Springs 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 5,245 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 3.9% of Excelsior Springs households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Excelsior Springs’ commuters take a bus or train.
Excelsior Springs next to U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000: 1,705th of 2,507 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 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,703 | Martinsville IN | 12,141 | $60K | 12.9% | 4.4% | 18% | C+ |
| 1,704 | Storm Lake IA | 11,590 | $63K | 7.0% | 4.4% | 67% | C+ |
| 1,705 | Excelsior Springs MO | 10,819 | $73K | 15.2% | 5.0% | 18% | C+ |
| 1,706 | Newfane NY | 9,139 | $75K | 10.0% | 5.8% | 13% | C+ |
| 1,707 | Muscoy CA | 12,025 | $71K | 26.7% | 5.1% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 19% | 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 Excelsior Springs, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Next door to Excelsior Springs
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Excelsior Springs workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excelsior Springs | – | C+ | B+ | 22 min | $72,609 |
| Prathersville | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Mosby | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Prathersville and Mosby: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Excelsior Springs’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 Excelsior Springs: questions
What is the median household income in Excelsior Springs?
$72,609 (±$10,479) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Excelsior Springs?
15.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Excelsior Springs?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Excelsior Springs work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (23%, 22 mi), Liberty (10%, 12 mi), Claycomo (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Excelsior Springs walkable?
Excelsior Springs is more walkable than 71% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Excelsior Springs without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Excelsior Springs, from the people who make the trip.
More of Excelsior Springs
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.