Photo: Paul Sableman · CC BY 2.0Festus has higher unemployment (6.6%) than 79% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in Festus for work; outside it, St. Louis is the main destination (12%, 30 miles). Jobs and income earn Festus C+; getting around on foot earns it B. A typical one-way commute lasts 26 minutes (Missouri 24, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Festus, in brief
The better-paid jobs are outside Festus
59% of Festus residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 33% of the jobs based in Festus pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 91% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Festus’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Festus is St. Louis, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (681) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Many jobs in Festus pay little
27% of the jobs based in Festus pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 36% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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 four measures behind Festus’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Festus is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #131 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Festus’ grade up (ahead of 74% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Festus could be anywhere from C− to B.
What work there is in Festus: 4,283 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Festus, 2013 → 2023: 4,516 → 4,283. 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 Festus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Festus works
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.
Festus quiets down on a workday
On a workday 5,375 residents head out to work, 533 work right here, and 3,750 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Festus on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.72 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 2023, primary jobs.
The places Festus commutes to
Where Festus clocks in
12% of workers
5% 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.
About 26 minutes each way, longer than most of Missouri
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Festus workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,145 commuters (the 9% 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.
Festus is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Festus is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #121 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.3% 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 5,623 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 38% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 6% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 47% 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). 7.1% of Festus households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Festus’ commuters take a bus or train.
Festus is 1,632nd of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 14 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 128 | Crestwood MO | 12,207 | $107K | 5.5% | 1.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,630 | Rincon GA | 11,726 | $74K | 9.0% | 9.5% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,631 | Jerome ID | 13,731 | $67K | 11.2% | 4.6% | 24% | C+ |
| 1,632 | Festus MO | 14,066 | $74K | 17.1% | 6.6% | 9% | C+ |
| 1,633 | Burkburnett TX | 11,057 | $66K | 16.7% | 3.5% | 19% | C+ |
| 1,634 | Geneva Township OH | 10,061 | $59K | 16.4% | 3.1% | 19% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Festus, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Next door to Festus
The biggest share goes to Crystal City (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Festus workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Festus | – | C+ | B | 26 min | $73,532 |
| Crystal City | 5% | B+ | B− | 32 min | $72,598 |
| Herculaneum | 3% | A | B | 29 min | $93,438 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Festus’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 Festus: questions
What is the median household income in Festus?
$73,532 (±$7,682) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Festus?
17.1%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Festus?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Festus work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (12%, 30 mi), Crystal City (5%, 2 mi), Arnold (4%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Festus walkable?
Festus is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Festus without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 6% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Festus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Festus
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.