Norwood Hills Country Club · Photo: LittleT889 · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Jennings earn less than those in 96% of U.S. towns
Jennings grades C− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. 25.2% of residents live below the poverty line; Missouri has 12.6%. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 6.2 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 10.8 in St. Louis.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Jennings: the figures worth knowing
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Jennings’ working residents have a job less than 8 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 27 minutes, longer than the Missouri average of 24. Time on the road ↓
Jennings and St. Louis trade workers both ways
St. Louis is the top workplace for Jennings residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Jennings come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Most Jennings residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. Only 5% work more than 50 miles away. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Jennings workers earn over $40,000 a year
40% of Jennings’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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 Jennings’ grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jennings is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #186 of 247 in Missouri. Job access by car holds Jennings’ grade up (ahead of 94% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($38,984, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jennings could be anywhere from C− to C.
Jennings’ commute takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jennings workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,546 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.
26% of working residents work in St. Louis
Where Jennings clocks in
26% 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.
Half of Jennings commutes less than 8 miles
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.
Jennings works in goods: 29% of its jobs
2,351 jobs are based in Jennings.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jennings, 2013 → 2023: 2,577 → 2,351. 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 Jennings’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who commutes out of Jennings, and who commutes in
On a workday 4,851 residents head out to work, 97 work right here, and 2,254 people come in from elsewhere.
About 10,000 people are in Jennings on a workday afternoon, 20% fewer than live here.
0.48 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.
Jennings is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jennings is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #2 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Jennings 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 4,986 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 46% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 6.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 87% 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). 21.6% of Jennings households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 15% of Jennings’ commuters take a bus or train.
How Jennings ranks: 2,218th of 2,526 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 18,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Town and Country MO | 11,619 | $233K | 1.7% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Dardenne Prairie MO | 15,032 | $153K | 1.3% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,216 | Atchison KS | 10,789 | $54K | 15.8% | 5.3% | 40% | C− |
| 2,217 | Thompson NY | 16,722 | $65K | 21.6% | 5.7% | 33% | C− |
| 2,218 | Jennings MO | 13,093 | $39K | 25.2% | 8.9% | 2% | C− |
| 2,219 | Danville KY | 17,736 | $53K | 17.4% | 6.6% | 35% | C− |
| 2,220 | Saybrook Township OH | 9,566 | $58K | 13.5% | 7.5% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,526 | 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 Jennings, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
26% of Jennings works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jennings workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jennings | – | C− | A+ | 27 min | $38,984 |
| Northwoods | under 2% | B− | A | 33 min | $45,330 |
| Country Club Hills | under 2% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Ferguson | under 2% | C | A+ | 24 min | $47,524 |
| Bellefontaine Neighbors | under 2% | C | A | 27 min | $49,170 |
| Pine Lawn | under 2% | C− | A+ | 25 min | $24,837 |
| Norwood Court | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| St. Louis | 26% | C+ | A+ | 22 min | $56,160 |
Same-state neighbors only. Country Club Hills and Norwood Court: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to St. Louis. Darker towns draw more of Jennings’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 Jennings: questions
What is the median household income in Jennings?
$38,984 (±$6,416) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jennings?
25.2%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jennings?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jennings work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Louis (26%, 6 mi), Maryland Heights (6%, 11 mi), Bridgeton (3%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jennings walkable?
Jennings is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.5 out of 20, and 22% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jennings without a car?
15% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 46% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jennings, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jennings
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.