Montserrat Recreation Demonstration Area Bridge · Photo: 25or6to4 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 10.0%, unemployment in Knob Noster is higher than in 94% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Knob Noster are C for jobs and income and C− for walkability. About one in ten stay in Knob Noster for work; outside it, Warrensburg is the main destination (19%, 8 miles). 6% of workers have no commute at all (Missouri 13%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Knob Noster stands out on work
Knob Noster and Warrensburg trade workers both ways
Warrensburg is the top workplace for Knob Noster residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Knob Noster come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
38% of the jobs based in Knob Noster are held by workers 29 or younger, against 28% of Knob Noster’s own working residents. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
34% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Knob Noster’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Knob Noster is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #154 of 247 in Missouri. The poverty rate holds Knob Noster’s grade up (6.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Knob Noster could be anywhere from D to B.
The places Knob Noster commutes to
Where Knob Noster clocks in
19% of workers
9% of workers
9% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
717 jobs are based in Knob Noster.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Knob Noster, 2013 → 2023: 636 → 717. 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 Knob Noster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Knob Noster goes to work
About 34% 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.
Knob Noster by day and by night
On a workday 962 residents head out to work, 89 work right here, and 628 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Knob Noster on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Each way, about 21 minutes from Knob Noster
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Knob Noster workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,473 commuters (the 6% 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.
Getting around Knob Noster: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Knob Noster is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns, #238 of 247 in Missouri. 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 1,565 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). 0.0% of Knob Noster households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Knob Noster’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000, Knob Noster ranks 3,271st of 4,618 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 55 | Weatherby Lake MO | 2,139 | $153K | 3.4% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 96 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,269 | Grangeville ID | 3,621 | $61K | 16.3% | 2.0% | 39% | C |
| 3,270 | Corunna MI | 3,000 | $46K | 14.9% | 4.3% | 6% | C |
| 3,271 | Knob Noster MO | 2,997 | $62K | 6.0% | 10.0% | 8% | C |
| 3,272 | La Blanca TX | 2,998 | $56K | 19.2% | 5.5% | <1% | C |
| 3,273 | Alexander AR | 3,801 | $57K | 27.5% | 5.2% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Knob Noster, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
How Knob Noster compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Whiteman AFB (4%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Knob Noster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knob Noster | – | C | C− | 21 min | $62,353 |
| Whiteman AFB | 4% | D | C+ | 10 min | $54,641 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Knob Noster’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 Knob Noster: questions
What is the median household income in Knob Noster?
$62,353 (±$10,162) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Knob Noster?
6.0%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Knob Noster?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Knob Noster work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Warrensburg (19%, 8 mi), Kansas City (9%, 59 mi), Sedalia (9%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Knob Noster walkable?
Knob Noster is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Knob Noster without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Knob Noster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Knob Noster
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.