Houx-Hoefer-Rehkop House · Photo: SharonPapierdreams · CC BY-SA 4.0Jobs, income and commuting in Higginsville, MO
About one in five work in Higginsville; the top destination outside it is Kansas City (12%, 44 miles). The two grades for Higginsville are B− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For 3% of workers, the job is at home (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Higginsville apart on work
Higginsville trades workers with the towns around it
Higginsville has about as many jobs (1,847) as working residents (1,866), but they are mostly different people: 1,484 residents leave for work each day while 1,465 people come in. Only 21% of the jobs in Higginsville are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Higginsville’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Higginsville is Kansas City, 44 miles away as the crow flies. 12% of working residents (225) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Higginsville workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
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.
Where Higginsville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Higginsville is better than 50% of U.S. towns, #104 of 247 in Missouri. The poverty rate holds Higginsville’s grade up (6.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 25% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Higginsville could be anywhere from C− to A−.
How a workday changes Higginsville
On a workday 1,484 residents head out to work, 382 work right here, and 1,465 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 (0.99 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.
Miles to work from Higginsville
About 18% 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.
About 20 minutes each way, quicker than most of Missouri
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Higginsville workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,583 commuters (the 3% 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.
Where people from Higginsville work
Where Higginsville clocks in
12% of workers
7% 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 1,847 jobs based in Higginsville
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Higginsville, 2013 → 2023: 2,236 → 1,847. 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 Higginsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Good to walk, short on transit: Higginsville
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Higginsville is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns, #63 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Higginsville 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 2,661 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). 2.9% of Higginsville households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Higginsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,077th of 3,867: where Higginsville ranks among U.S. towns of 3,300 to 6,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Greenwood MO | 6,315 | $107K | 3.2% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,075 | Groesbeck TX | 3,995 | $62K | 7.2% | 2.0% | 18% | B− |
| 2,076 | Lenox MA | 5,059 | $106K | 8.5% | 6.2% | 21% | B− |
| 2,077 | Higginsville MO | 4,770 | $81K | 6.8% | 4.4% | 20% | B− |
| 2,078 | Tulpehocken Township PA | 3,703 | $82K | 13.5% | 4.6% | 4% | B− |
| 2,079 | North Shore VA | 3,638 | $110K | 10.3% | 4.6% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,867 | 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.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Higginsville, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
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 Higginsville: questions
What is the median household income in Higginsville?
$81,033 (±$15,824) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Higginsville?
6.8%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Higginsville?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Higginsville work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kansas City (12%, 44 mi), Lexington (7%, 11 mi), Concordia (4%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Higginsville walkable?
Higginsville is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Higginsville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Higginsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Higginsville
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.