Jackson Uptown Commercial Historic District · Photo: Zzyxzaa26 · CC0Jackson has lower unemployment (1.8%) than 87% of U.S. towns
There are 5,794 jobs in Jackson, against 7,178 working residents. Jobs and income earn Jackson B+; getting around on foot earns it C+. The trip to work takes 20 minutes on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jackson and work: the main findings
The figures behind Jackson’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jackson is better than 65% of U.S. towns, #79 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Jackson’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 43% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jackson could be anywhere from B− to A−.
31% of working residents work in Cape Girardeau
Where Jackson clocks in
31% of workers
3% 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.
Who commutes out of Jackson, and who commutes in
On a workday 5,794 residents head out to work, 1,384 work right here, and 4,410 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 (0.81 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.
The kinds of work in Jackson
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jackson, 2013 → 2023: 5,553 → 5,794. 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 Jackson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Jackson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jackson workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 7,152 commuters (the 12% 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.
Half of Jackson commutes less than 9 miles
About 25% 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.
In Jackson, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jackson is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns, #206 of 247 in Missouri. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% 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 8,162 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). 4.7% of Jackson households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Jackson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Jackson is 1,091st among 2,220 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 22,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 12 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Crestwood MO | 12,207 | $107K | 5.5% | 1.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,089 | Wells Branch TX | 13,523 | $67K | 12.9% | 2.8% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,090 | Indianola IA | 16,829 | $75K | 6.4% | 4.0% | 22% | B+ |
| 1,091 | Jackson MO | 16,033 | $77K | 8.6% | 1.8% | 19% | B+ |
| 1,092 | Fairview Shores FL | 11,844 | $62K | 11.8% | 2.4% | 2% | B+ |
| 1,093 | Huron Township MI | 16,556 | $93K | 11.7% | 4.8% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,220 | 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 Jackson, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Jackson and its neighbors: 31% work next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jackson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson | – | B+ | C+ | 20 min | $77,105 |
| Cape Girardeau | 31% | C+ | B+ | 16 min | $55,658 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cape Girardeau. Darker towns draw more of Jackson’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 Jackson: questions
What is the median household income in Jackson?
$77,105 (±$7,262) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jackson?
8.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jackson?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jackson work?
19% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cape Girardeau (31%, 7 mi), St. Louis (3%, 92 mi), Sikeston (3%, 34 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jackson walkable?
Jackson is more walkable than 36% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jackson without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jackson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jackson
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.