Kelso has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Only 2% stay in Kelso for work; outside it, Cape Girardeau is the main destination (36%, 8 miles). Kelso has 40 jobs; 213 of its residents have a job. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, next to 13% for Missouri as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Kelso
Kelso is a place people come home to
There are 40 jobs based in Kelso, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Kelso has about 380 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
36% of Kelso works in Cape Girardeau
76 working residents, 36%, have their main job in Cape Girardeau, 8.1 miles away. That’s 18 times as many as work in Kelso itself. The commute map ↓
Few Kelso 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; with 213 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How many people are in Kelso by day
On a workday 209 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 36 people come in from elsewhere.
About 380 people are in Kelso on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer 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.
Out of Kelso to work: where people go
Where Kelso clocks in
36% of workers
8% 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.
Each way, about 24 minutes from Kelso
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kelso workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 294 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.
Making and building: 68% of jobs based in Kelso
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kelso, 2013 → 2023: 46 → 40. 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 Kelso’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Kelso commutes
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 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 Kelso: questions
What is the median household income in Kelso?
$56,875 (±$15,849) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kelso?
12.6%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kelso?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kelso work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cape Girardeau (36%, 8 mi), Scott City (8%, 2 mi), Sikeston (8%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Kelso without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kelso, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kelso
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.