Photo: RebelAt of English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Jefferson City draws 39,932 commuters a day, with 2.7 jobs for every working resident
More than half work in Jefferson City itself; outside it, Columbia draws the most (9%, 28 miles). Jefferson City has 50,863 jobs, against 18,702 working residents. The two grades for Jefferson City are B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Jefferson City
Jefferson City is where the jobs are
Jefferson City has 50,863 jobs, 2.7 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 75,000 people are in town, 76% more than the 42,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Jefferson City draws workers from far and wide
The 50,863 jobs in Jefferson City are filled from a wide area. Jefferson City’s own residents hold 21% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 66% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Jefferson City are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 24 across Missouri. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Missouri worker. Time on the road ↓
Jefferson City’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Jefferson City is Columbia, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 9% of working residents (1,710) 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 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Jefferson City
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jefferson City is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #95 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment holds Jefferson City’s grade up (3.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($66,371, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jefferson City could be anywhere from C+ to B.
How many people are in Jefferson City by day
On a workday 7,771 residents head out to work and 10,931 work right here.
About 75,000 people are in Jefferson City on a workday afternoon, 76% 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.
Where the people who work in Jefferson City live
Where Jefferson City clocks in
9% of workers
2% of workers
1% 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.
Jefferson City’s commute takes about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jefferson City workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 18,552 commuters (the 10% 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.
The distance from Jefferson City to work
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.
What Jefferson City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jefferson City, 2013 → 2023: 44,392 → 50,863. 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 Jefferson City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Jefferson City, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jefferson City is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #109 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Jefferson City 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 20,699 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). 7.2% of Jefferson City households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Jefferson City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Jefferson City is 666th among 994 U.S. towns of 30,000 to 57,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 10 | Wildwood MO | 34,955 | $161K | 2.2% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Chesterfield MO | 49,309 | $133K | 3.9% | 3.2% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 78 | Ballwin MO | 30,901 | $125K | 4.8% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 664 | Rosemead CA | 49,410 | $74K | 13.7% | 5.8% | 9% | B− |
| 665 | Morgantown WV | 30,293 | $45K | 30.4% | 6.2% | 40% | B− |
| 666 | Jefferson City MO | 42,489 | $66K | 12.0% | 3.2% | 58% | B− |
| 667 | Vero Beach South FL | 30,344 | $73K | 9.1% | 3.8% | 7% | B− |
| 668 | Martinez GA | 33,750 | $82K | 10.0% | 6.1% | 10% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 994 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Jefferson City, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Around Jefferson City: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jefferson City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson City | – | B− | B+ | 16 min | $66,371 |
| Taos | under 1% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $98,854 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jefferson City’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 Jefferson City: questions
What is the median household income in Jefferson City?
$66,371 (±$4,731) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jefferson City?
12.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jefferson City?
16 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jefferson City work?
58% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Columbia (9%, 28 mi), Fulton (2%, 23 mi), Kansas City (1%, 134 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jefferson City walkable?
Jefferson City is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jefferson City without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jefferson City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jefferson City
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.