Photo: KTrimble · CC BY-SA 3.0Kimberling City has lower household incomes than 88% of U.S. towns
Only 5% stay in Kimberling City for work; outside it, Branson is the main destination (17%, 7 miles). The poverty rate is 19.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri. For jobs and income Kimberling City is better than 6% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (C).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Kimberling City apart
Income, poverty and work: Kimberling City’s grade explained
All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Kimberling City’s grade.
Unemployment (7.0%) is left out: Kimberling City’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Kimberling City could be anywhere from D− to D.
The kinds of work in Kimberling City
507 jobs are based in Kimberling City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kimberling City, 2013 → 2023: 465 → 507. 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 Kimberling City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Kimberling City
On a workday 818 residents head out to work, 42 work right here, and 465 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,000 people are in Kimberling City on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
0.59 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.
Where the trip to work from Kimberling City ends
Where Kimberling City clocks in
17% of workers
15% 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 daily trip from Kimberling City: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kimberling City workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 723 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.
Half of Kimberling City commutes less than 14 miles
About 21% 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.
Getting around Kimberling City: mostly by car
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 803 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). 2.8% of Kimberling City households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kimberling City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kimberling City and other U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Warson Woods MO | 1,990 | $207K | 1.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 53 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 54 | Lake Winnebago MO | 1,869 | $179K | 1.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,070 | Lake Butler FL | 1,921 | $50K | 24.7% | 12.3% | 17% | D |
| 5,071 | Mount Vernon KY | 2,455 | $39K | 32.7% | 3.5% | 25% | D |
| 5,072 | Kimberling City MO | 2,345 | $50K | 19.5% | 7.0% | 5% | D |
| 5,073 | Pawnee OK | 1,974 | $41K | 14.9% | 2.8% | 35% | D |
| 5,074 | Roubidoux Township MO | 1,797 | $64K | 22.6% | 3.3% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,552 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Kimberling City, 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 Kimberling City: questions
What is the median household income in Kimberling City?
$49,692 (±$6,146) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kimberling City?
19.5%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kimberling City?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kimberling City work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Branson (17%, 7 mi), Springfield (15%, 38 mi), Branson West (4%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Kimberling City walkable?
Kimberling City is more walkable than 27% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kimberling City 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 Kimberling City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kimberling 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.