Hodgson-Aid Mill · Photo: Vsmith · CC BY-SA 3.0Gainesville has 2.5 jobs for every working resident: 515 people commute in to work
559 jobs are based in Gainesville, and 220 of its residents work somewhere. About one in five work in Gainesville; the top destination outside it is Mountain Home (17%, 19 miles). The trip to work takes 22 minutes on average; Missouri averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Gainesville stands out on work
Gainesville is where the jobs are
Gainesville has 559 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,100 people are in town, 43% more than the 780 who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
37% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
A lot of Gainesville workers cross into Arkansas
19% of Gainesville workers work outside Missouri, the Census survey finds. In the commute data, Mountain Home (17%) and Midway (3%) are among the top workplaces. The commute map ↓
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; with 220 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The workday shuffle in and out of Gainesville
On a workday 176 residents head out to work and 44 work right here.
About 1,100 people are in Gainesville on a workday afternoon, 43% more than live here.
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 commute from Gainesville, by distance
About 37% 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.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Who travels to work in Gainesville, and from where
Where Gainesville clocks in
5% of workers
3% 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 Gainesville’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gainesville, 2013 → 2023: 671 → 559. 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 Gainesville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Gainesville
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gainesville workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 321 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.
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 Gainesville: questions
What is the median household income in Gainesville?
$32,391 (±$6,496) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gainesville?
29.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gainesville?
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 Gainesville work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mountain Home (17%, 19 mi), Springfield (5%, 63 mi), West Plains (3%, 32 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Gainesville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gainesville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gainesville
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.